Clark Lane and Lois Kent
by SuperheroLover22
Summary: AU. A Clark and Lois role reversal. Lois, adopted and from another planet, enters her senior year of high school. Clark, an army brat turned Sergeant moves to Ft. Ryan to oversee operations. What happens when the two meet?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is a prologue of sorts. I just wanted to establish a basis for what they story is about. It's pretty dry and lacking in good story-telling. But that will come later, I promise. It's important to know who Clark and Lois are before they meet each other. Plus, I wrote this on a plane ride from Los Angeles to Detroit, so excuse anything that may seem amiss. Make sure you review! Thanks for reading!

_**PROLOGUE**_

Adopted at the tender age of three, by Jonathon and Martha Kent, Lois Kent had learned early on how wonderful life could be with two parents who loved her as much as hers did.

Clark Lane had been dragged around from army base to army base by his father, a three star general and all over important man. Clark had learned early on that his father loved him, but it was buried under the guise of toughness.

***

Lois was just your average small town girl, except she had a secret. You wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at her, but Lois Kent was stronger than 10 men, able to withstand extreme heat and extreme cold and bulletproof; she was practically invincible. But being impervious comes with it's disadvantages. Especially when the boy next door was the guy of her dreams and he didn't even know it. Whitney Fordman had lived just a mile from the Kent farm for as long as Lois could remember. He was the captain of the football team and he was gorgeous, but Lois didn't like him only for his looks. He was intelligent and caring and the best person Lois had ever met besides her parents. The only problem, aside from the fact that he was practically unaware of her existence, was Lana Lang – Whitney's girlfriend and little miss perfect. It's ture Lana was perfect in every way the Lois wasn't. Lana was beautiful, kind, smart and a cheerleader. Lois was on the precipice of being known as an outsider, but that didn't bother her. What bothered her was that Lana was always around Whitney and whenever Lois got close to the pair of them, she would feel weak at the knees and clumsy. Lana wasn't the type of person to laugh at someone else's misfortunes, but Lois could swear she could always see a jealous glint coupled with a hidden smile in Lana's eyes every time she tripped in front of Whitney. It was odd since it only seemed to happen when Lana was around.

High school had been a difficult transition for Lois. Her secret powers were becoming a burden. Not just for her, but for her parents and her best friends Chloe and Pete. Ever since her father had told her she was from another planet, Lois' life had completely changed. While she remained guarded about her powers, she saw no reason not to come clean with Pete and Chloe; they had all been best friends for years, ever since Chloe moved to Smallville from Metropolis. Junior year, Lois led both Chloe and Pete down to the storm cellar where her space ship was hidden and revealed the truth about her origins. She hoped that it wouldn't change how they felt about her, but Pete had grown distant and Chloe had grown more overprotective, especially after they found out that she wasn't invincible and that green meteor rocks could kill her if she was exposed long enough. Pete wasn't willing to risk his like for Lois the way Chloe was and it led to the end of a long standing friendship, when Pete moved away.

Losing a friend like Pete was devastating for Lois, it made her more guarded about her secret. Chloe was there for her though and soon things began to look up. Lois' life improved even more when she learned that Lana and Whitney had broken up for good. Finally, she would have her chance to be with Whitney, just like she imagined for as long as she could remember. All it would take was some initiative on her part and Whitney would be hers, senior year was looking much more promising.

***

Clark Lane was tired of moving around from military base to military base. His father, General Lane was so commanding and his presence was readily known when he entered a room. Clark inherited the same presence, although his berth added to his authority. He was 6'4" and 220 pounds of pure muscle; it was one of the advantages of growing up in the Army. Clark was highly skilled in hand to hand combat; he was trained as a sniper and was already a Sergeant, at the tender age of nineteen. The army was his life – there was nothing else for him. Sure, he had dated a couple girl's but he never felt a real connection. He was alone and he was a soldier. And that made him the best and worst soldier because he had nothing to lose. The General was extremely proud of him, but he never expressed his pride so blatantly. It was part of his tough love regime. Ever since Clark's mother had died, he had become more and more introverted. He hardly ever spoke, except to give commands and he valued his time alone where he could sit and think about his life and where it was going.

Unbeknownst to him, his life was going to Smallville, Kansas home of Fort Ryan and his younger cousin Chloe. It had been a while since he had seen or heard from Chloe, but he was glad he'd get a chance to catch up with her. She was the closest friend he had in his life and she was miles away from his current home at Fort Avalon.

At Fort Ryan, Sergeant Lane would be commanding a platoon of soldiers that were starting their basic training. Clark was a little apprehensive about moving to Smallville, especially after all the stories Chloe had told him about the strange town. But there was no use complaining. He had his orders and he was going to carry them out.

Chapter 1: Senior Year, New Beginnings coming soon…


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm on spring break right now and I hope to finish this story before getting back to school. So look out for pretty frequent updates (hopefully). To answer some questions, there will some Clois action of course! My favorite couple ever! Reviews are always appreciated

_**Chapter 1**_

Senior Year, New Beginnings

"Do you ever get tired of looking at the stars?" Whitney asked an unsuspecting Lois.

Even with her heightened alien vision, Lois loved using her telescope to spy on the night's sky. She had been so absorbed in the celestial beauty, she failed to notice Whitney enter her "Fortress of Solitude". Her father had bestowed that particular name to the loft, but Lois never felt that she liked the name. Lois would rather be around people than hole up in her family's barn. Yet, every so often, the sudden urge to be alone would come over her and she would escape to her "fortress" getting lost in the skies as she thought about her life and all of the crazy things that seemed to happen to her.

"No," Lois answered. "I think stars are the answers to all of life's problems. Each shining globe of gas, gives off a light that travels light years to reach the surface of the Earth and the untrained eye. When you look at stars through a telescope, you're able to see that light more clearly. And you can tell that it's not just a side-effect of science, it's a symbol of hope that even when something seems so far away, like a wish or a dream for example, there's the possibility that an iota of what you've wished for or dreamed of, could come true."

"Wow," Whitney breathed. "I never thought about it like that."

"Well, you know…some people are just born to comprehend the cosmos in obscure ways. If Galileo hadn't figured out the Earth revolved around the Sun and Copernicus had realized the Earth was round, our civilization would have been far more secluded than it is now. The Wright brothers are another good example of defying the odds in ways of thinking. And Edison. And Einstein. And –"

Before Lois could continue rambling, Whitney kissed her lightly on the lips. Shaking slightly, Lois opened her eyes, slowly realizing that she had closed them when Whitney surprised her and glanced up to meet Whitney's bright blue eyes. But they weren't there. It had been a dream. Maybe her theory about stars was completely wrong. Maybe wishes didn't come true. If they did, then Lois would be human and not an alien from some unknown planet.

Lois turned away from her telescope and made her way back to the farmhouse. Although she didn't need a good night's sleep, she really wanted one, especially before the first day of senior year and her last year not being a couple with Whitney Fordman.

***

Clark arrived at Fort Ryan at 0600 hours the Friday before Chloe would be beginning her last year of high school. He spent the rest of the day scheduling the training schedule for the next few weeks, making sure to save time to see his favorite cousin. There was time for him to head out around 1300 hours on Monday. Although he knew his job came first, he couldn't wait until Monday.

He hadn't told her beforehand that he was coming; it was supposed to be a big surprise. He hadn't even talked to her because she was such an intrepid reporter, that she could smell his lies from miles away. It would be best for both of them if he just kept his mouth shut until he saw her around town. It wasn't very likely that he wouldn't run into her, Smallville was as the name implied, _small_.

Clark drove toward Smallville High. He had been here once before when The Sullivans had moved out to the middle of nowhere. Clark couldn't understand why his Uncle Gabe would want to move away from Metropolis to the middle of nowhere. All there was in Smallville was dust and farms. It wasn't much. But Uncle Gabe thought it would be good place to raise Chloe, and if Clark was honest with himself, he wouldn't have minded growing up in Smallville – at least he would have stayed in one place.

Being an army brat was an experience, if anything. Clark had traveled all over the world following his father from army base to army base. He'd lived in London, the Middle East, China, Taiwan, Paris and most recently Washington D.C. Beijing, China had been his favorite place. He was ten when they lived there. Beijing was full of culture and interesting traditions. Clark especially loved the Lunar New Year's celebrations because that was where he met Aining. Aining was the daughter of a local business man who was trading with the U.S. Army during the designation. While their father's were off talking business throughout the fireworks display, Clark and Aining had snuck away to watch the brightly colored sparks explode in the sky in varying shapes and sizes. When a large heart shaped firework lit up above them Aining leant over and kissed Clark on the cheek. After Lunar New Year's was over the two played together every day for the remaining time of Clark's stay. Even though he knew that he would eventually leave, he wished that he could stay in China forever and with Aining. She was the best friend he had ever had. When the time came for them to leave Clark wanted to run away from his father and stay in the Asian country but he knew that every good soldier follows orders; he had learned that from a very young and was very good at keeping to that particular adage. So, Clark said good-bye to his first best friend and his last for the next nine-years as he inadvertently trained to become a soldier and an expert marksman. It had led him to this small town and back to his cousin, the only other person who knew him better than anyone else.

Clark pulled into the parking lot of the school and got out of his car. Surveying the grounds, he saw the blooming bushes and a handful of students that were littered about the lawn. He entered the building and made his way to the main office to declare himself as a visitor. The secretary gave him a name tag and had him sign in before telling him that he had gorgeous eyes and that if he was looking for a date while he was in town she was available. Smiling genially at the woman, he left the office and ran into a girl about six inches shorter than him.

He was surprised she didn't fall down; then again he was the one who had stumbled backward. It was like she had a "don't tread on me" bubble protecting her from idiots like him who weren't paying attention to where they were going.

"Excuse me, miss," Clark apologized.

The girl looked up at him and her eyes widened in surprise. He assumed that it was because he was so much taller than she was but he didn't let it bother him, he had a cousin to find. As he moved to walk away she said:

"Oh, don't worry about it. It was my fault. I'm so sorry; I should have been paying attention to where I was going. Are you okay? You stumbled a bit back there."

"Yes, miss. I'm perfectly fine, it was my mistake. I hope to be more cautious in the future."

"When you're as tall as you are, people should be able to avoid you. The fault was entirely my own."

"I apologized first, so I think the blame lies with me."

"You didn't apologize, you said 'Excuse me, miss'. If you had apologized I would have accepted it and moved on but since I actually said the words 'I'm sorry', then you have to accept my apology or else I'll just have to make a mental note that you aren't very polite for a member of the military."

"Well, miss I am indeed sorry and I do accept your apology. However, I must ask…how did you know I was in the military."

"Your posture," she whispered in a conspiratorial whisper. "It's a dead giveaway."

She then turned away from him, not before smirking a satisfied smirk at his amused face, and then entering the office he had just left. _What an interesting girl_, Clark thought to himself. He moved to continue down the hallway when he heard a loud shriek from behind him.

"CLARK!"

He turned at the sound of his name and saw a small blonde girl running towards him. He recognized her instantly as Chloe. Her smile was infamous, at least in his family – there was no mistaking a Sullivan smile. He remembered his Aunt Moira had smiled like that before she and Uncle Gabe got divorced.

"Chloe," Clark returned, grinning broadly as she threw her arms around him. "It's great to see you."

"Same to you. Clark, what are you doing here?"

"I'm a sergeant now," he told her. "I'm overseeing the training of new recruits out at Ft. Ryan. And I couldn't settle down in Kansas without seeing my favorite cousin."

"I'm your favorite cousin now am I?" Chloe asked teasingly.

"I've wanted to talk to you but I've been busy. It's not always easy being in my position," Clark frowned.

"Clark, I know that. I was just kidding. Now are you going to give me a ride home while I acclimate you to small town life?"

"It would my pleasure."

"Great, let me just grab a friend of mine. She's been living in Smallville way longer than I have, she'd be able to give an even better tour."

"Sounds perfect."

Clark waited as Chloe went to get her friend and was surprised when she returned with the girl he had run into outside of the office.

"Clark Lane, meets Lois Kent."

***

It was the first day of Lois' senior year. As usual she woke up at 6 am to help out with chores around the farm. At first her father had insisted that she do them at normal speed but with all of the homework she had as college applications approached, he started allowing her to perform everything at super-speed, except of course for the milking. Lois finished everything at 7 and went to take a shower and get ready for school. When she entered the farmhouse she could smell her mother cooking a wonderful breakfast spread that would be the perfect way to start a new year.

Choosing what to wear was going to be difficult. She wanted to impress but she also didn't want to look like she was trying too hard. Finally, she opted on her favorite blue tank top and her red jacket paired with the pair of jeans she had bought the week before. Looking in the mirror, Lois decided she looked decent in the outfit paired with her hair pulled back into a low messy ponytail. She may not have been a girly girl like Lana, but she was sure that wasn't what would finally convince Whitney that she was the girl for him.

"Lois Kent! Hurry up, you're going to be late!" her mother called up the stairs.

Taking one last glance in the mirror, Lois grabbed her backpack and dashed down the stairs. Martha Kent was waiting for her in the kitchen, offering a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast with a glass of orange juice on the side. Lois sat down at the island in the kitchen and quickly shoveled the food in her mouth before heading out the door to drive to school, not forgetting to give her mother a kiss on the cheek on her way out.

Lois arrived at school and took a deep breath. Smallville High's familiar smell filled her nostrils and she sighed. It was her last year here and she was going to make sure it was a good year.

"Lois!"

Lois turned at the sound of her name and saw her blonde best friend coming towards her.

"Hey Chloe! Ready for senior year?"

"Well, who isn't ready to be free of the bonds of the institution?"

"I don't know Chloe, I'm sure there are some people out there who love high school."

"Those people, and I'm not saying they exist, are crazy."

Lois laughed and hugged Chloe. Chloe was one of the few people who could always make Lois laugh, especially when she was feeling the burden of her powers. She still didn't know where exactly she had come from but she tried to not let it worry her. If it was meant to be known, she would find out.

The day went by quickly and Lois had yet to see Whitney. A bit disconcerted, LOIs prepared for her last class of the day; advanced biology. It was the only class of the day she had with Chloe and she was looking forward to it. When she entered the classroom, Lois was surprised to see a new teacher sitting at the front of the class. He looked like he was cut out of men's fashion magazine and Lois wondered what would bring him to Smallville. Still confused, Lois spotted Chloe near the front of the class and made her way to the empty seat next to the petite girl.

"Who's the new guy?" Lois whispered. Chloe shrugged in response as the teacher called for their attention.

"Excuse me class, if you could settle down, we could begin," the teacher drawled. The chattering of the students died down and he continued, "My name is Lex Luthor and I'll be your biology teacher for the next year. I'm here as a personal favor to the principal as he couldn't find anyone else to teach this subject that met the state's requirements. I have a doctorate and biology and I currently employ a team of scientists who are studying the geological history of the area. As I was already in the area, I decided that it would be acceptable to spend some time teaching young minds about my craft. Now let's begin."

The class shifted slightly in their seats at the recitation of his credentials. Lois looked over at Chloe and saw a small frown plastered on her face. When Lois opened her mouth to ask, Chloe shook her head imperceptibly and looked back at Dr. Luthor with an impassive face.

"The person that you're sitting next to right now will be your lab partner for the remainder of year. No exceptions. Our first experiment will be with a unique element to Smallville, the meteor rocks that landed here 15 years ago. My team has been looking into how they will benefit the agriculture trade of the future. I'll give you each a small fragment of a meteor rock and you and your partner will need to perform a variety of experiments to undertand the composition of the rock. The instructions are on the board, I'll be right back, the fragments are up her on the desk. Have fun."

Dr. Luthor, opened the box containing the meteor rocks and made his way out of the lab. The scraping of stools was heard as the students moved to begin their assignment. Lois' face had turned gray and she looked nauseous. Chloe understood the symptoms and tried to think of a good excuse for Lois to leave the class. Their fellow students were carrying their fragments back from the front of the class right past them and Lois began feeling increasingly faint. Finally, Chloe decided that the best distraction would be for Lois to faint or at least pretend to faint when the teacher returned to the room. Just as Chloe was praying that Dr. Luthor would hurry up, the door to the classroom opened and Chloe quickly whispered to Lois, "Faint, now!"

Lois didn't need Chloe to tell her twice. She slid off her stool onto the ground and felt her consciousness hanging on by a thread. Dr. Luthor rushed over to his fainted student and cursed slightly under his breath. Chloe, sensing she had to get Lois out of this, ran to the sink at the front of the class and grabbed a glass of water, rushed back to her best friend and splashed the water over Lois. Lois spluttered and shakily got to her feet.

"Sorry," Lois apologized.

"It's fine Ms…?" Dr. Luthor asked.

"Kent. Lois Kent," Lois mumbled.

"Well, Ms. Kent are you feeling better? Would you like to go to the nurse?"

"Um, yeah…that would be a good idea," Lois replied.

"Okay. I'll let them know you're coming," he helped her to the door and shut it behind her.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Lois felt instantly better. She figured that it wouldn't hurt to go to the nurse, since she was expected there. Lois couldn't help but feel that was too close. If it wasn't for the quick thinking on Chloe's part, she didn't know what would have happened. Lois paused outside of the office and tried to not think of what could have happened. Suddenly, Lois felt someone run into her and bounce of her dense alien body.

"Excuse me, miss," the guy she had just run into apologized.

Lois looked up at him and her eyes widened in surprise. He was gorgeous, even better looking than Whitney. His chiseled jaw was defined among his high cheekbones and his alarming stature. But there was something else about him, something familiar but she couldn't place what it was. As he moved to walk away she realized where she had saw him before and decided it would be fun to prolong the conversation,

"Oh, don't worry about it. It was my fault. I'm so sorry; I should have been paying attention to where I was going. Are you okay? You stumbled a bit back there."

"Yes, miss. I'm perfectly fine, it was my mistake. I hope to be more cautious in the future."

"When you're as tall as you are, people should be able to avoid you. The fault was entirely my own."

"I apologized first, so I think the blame lies with me."

"You didn't apologize, you said 'Excuse me, miss'. If you had apologized I would have accepted it and moved on but since I actually said the words 'I'm sorry', then you have to accept my apology or else I'll just have to make a mental note that you aren't very polite for a member of the military."

"Well, miss I am indeed sorry and I do accept your apology. However, I must ask…how did you know I was in the military."

"Your posture," she whispered in a conspiratorial whisper. "It's a dead giveaway."

She smiled at him before heading into the office to await the nurse after the fiasco in Biology. The encounter with guy in the hallway had been fun and would have been even more fun if she hadn't gotten into trouble. She knew that she had him eating her palm with the military comment, he probably had no way of knowing that Chloe had showed her his picture.

"Lois Kent," the nurse called.

Lois got up, nervous about the accident that had occurred. How could she explain the fainting spell in class if she was feeling perfect now? It was certainly suspicious and Lois had never been a good liar. She followed the nurse to the exam room and sat down, still trying to think of an acceptable explanation when Chloe came in and told the nurse that Lois was just hypoglycemic and that she had forgotten to eat earlier. The nurse just nodded and gave Lois a chocolate bar before turning back to the magazine she had been reading.

"Thanks for the save, Chloe. I don't know what I'd do without you," Lois said as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"No problem, Lois. You've saved my life on more than one occasion, I think I owe it to you."

"Do you think we should head back to class?" Lois asked as she looked down at her watch.

Chloe looked down at her own watch and shook her head. "No, I think it would be okay if we just headed out. Plus I want you to meet someone. Lois smiled to herself, she knew Chloe was going to introduce her to her cousin. Part of her was looking forward to seeing him again, if not because he was good looking then because she was interested in learning more about him and all the places Chloe had told her he had lived in. Chloe opened the door and led Lois to the unsuspecting bumbling military officer. She saw Chloe grin broadly as she introduced the two.

"Clark Lane, meet Lois Kent."

Currently working on Chapter 2, Chloe's perspective.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Just a short filler chapter, more Clark and Lois to come soon…

_**Chapter 2**_

Chloe's Perspective

Chloe Sullivan moved to Smallville at the beginning of sixth grade. On her first day of school she sat next to a girl that was shy but also vivacious. She wasn't afraid to speak up in class and she wasn't afraid of the bullies that ruled the school. Chloe admired the girl's bravery and soon after school began they became friends. Over the years their friendship grew into one that rivaled sisterhood. Chloe could tell her anything and one day during their junior year of high school, Chloe found out her friend trusted her too.

Lois Kent had told her a secret that would scare most people away, just look at what happened with Pete. But for Chloe, it intensified their relationship. Knowing that her friend wanted her to know that she was from another planet was the coolest thing she could think of. And she would do anything to protect Lois from harm.

While Lois didn't know where she had come from, she knew that her abilities weren't limitless. Chloe found it odd that whenever Lois was near green meteor rocks she would become faint and nauseous. It took a bit of investigating but Chloe soon discovered that the radiation levels of the meteors were off the charts. In fact, the composition of the meteor rocks was foreign to Earth. Chloe had assumed that these meteors were just fragments of a larger meteorite that had broken apart over the course of its travels through the cosmos but something wasn't adding up. Finally, Chloe put the radiation levels, the composition of the rocks and Lois' behavior around them together and concluded that these fragments were from Lois's planet.

"_What do you mean part of my planet Chloe?" Lois asked in hushed whisper._

"_I believe that these rocks came from wherever you're from. It has to be the reason you get sick around them."_

"_I don't know Chloe that sounds a little farfetched don't you think?"_

"_This coming from the alien sitting across from me?"_

"_Hey! No fair, your logical conclusion has just left me skeptical. I can be skeptical no matter what planet I'm from," Lois frowned._

"_Do you ever wonder what it was like there?" Chloe asked in a soft voice._

"_All the time."_

Chloe also wondered what Lois' home planet had been like. She probably had no right to pry into something so personal but it was in her nature to be inquisitive. All she could hope for is that they could discover Lois' origins because it would probably prove beneficial in the long run. Especially is Lois ever decide to take her super powers on the road and became a fully fledged superheroine.

Chloe's research had also brought up the question of who else was interested in the meteors. It appeared that they not only had an effect on Lois but on humans as well. However, the rocks didn't weaken humans they gave them super human abilities ranging from invisibility to morphing into any person. Chloe was sure that this was the reason the company L.L. International was constantly funding expeditions to the Kansas town to collect samples and study the ecological effects of the rocks. Trying to find more information about L.L. International was proving difficult, even for Chloe. She was sure it had to be the dummy company of something bigger but she couldn't put her finger on who could be behind it all.

It was a constant worry in the back of her mind that one day someone would discover an alien had been living among them and blending in so seamlessly and for so long. Although Lois did exhibit superhuman abilities that didn't make her any less human. So she had fortified dermis layer? It didn't matter to her because Lois was raised as a human and had everything a human had except the same DNA structure. Chloe had designated herself, Lois' unofficial protector when she first found out about the meteor rocks and nothing would ever change that.

The craziness in the biology lab earlier that day proved she was always ready to help Lois out. But it was the way Chloe's mind worked. Her synapses had begun firing in full force when their new teacher introduced himself and began explaining how he came to be a teacher at Smallville High. Chloe had already been suspicious because of the Armani suit he donned at the front of the classroom and her fears increased tenfold when he explained about his meteor rock fascination and she put two and two together: Lex Luthor was the head of L.L. International. Now all she had to do was find out what his real motives for harvesting meteor rocks were, keep Lois away from any similar experiments in Biology and think of another name for the meteor rocks because she was tired of saying it – there had to be a better name out there.

When Chloe saw Clark standing in the hallway looking dumbfounded, she couldn't believe her luck. The first day of her senior year was finally beginning to turn around. She hoped that he would be around sticking around for awhile before he moved off somewhere else at the army's request.

"CLARK!" Chloe yelled as she began running down the hall towards the tall man, smiling brightly.

"Chloe," Clark returned, grinning broadly as she threw her arms around him. "It's great to see you."

"Same to you. Clark, what are you doing here?"

"I'm a sergeant now," he told her. "I'm overseeing the training of new recruits out at Ft. Ryan. And I couldn't settle down in Kansas without seeing my favorite cousin."

"I'm your favorite cousin now am I?" Chloe asked teasingly.

"I've wanted to talk to you but I've been busy. It's not always easy being in my position," Clark frowned.

"Clark, I know that. I was just kidding. Now are you going to give me a ride home while I acclimate you to small town life?"

"It would my pleasure."

Chloe continued to smile at him until she snapped out of her happy reverie. She still had to get Lois out of the nurse's office. That would only take a minute but then what? She was all for her best friend meeting her favorite cousin in the flesh but she didn't want to share him so soon after getting him back into her life. But he had said he'd be in town for awhile. What was the harm in introducing them, she was sure they would like each other.

"Great, let me just grab a friend of mine. She's been living in Smallville way longer than I have, she'd be able to give an even better tour."

"Sounds perfect."

Chloe moved around him and entered the office. She turned to left and went straight into the nurse's office, ready with the perfect excuse for Lois' fainting spell: hypoglycemia. After telling the nurse there was nothing to worry about, Chloe ushered a much healthier looking Lois toward the exit. Chloe listened and responded to Lois' offerings of thanks and pretended to look down at her watch when Lois asked if they should head back to class. Chloe knew that the bell would be ringing soon and it wasn't very safe for Lois to reenter the classroom, plus it would be easier to see all of what Smallville had to offer if the parking lot wasn't crowded with their classmates, trying to get as far as way from school as possible until the following day.

"I want you to meet someone," Chloe said as she opened the door of the outer office. For some reason, Chloe became a little nervous as they approached Clark. Maybe it was the look on his face or maybe to was the look on Lois' face when she saw Clark, for what she assumed to be the first time Lois had seen him. Whatever it was that made her uneasy, she had to shake it off. It was probably just something she had eaten. Chloe cleared her throat and gestured towards Lois when they reached Clark,

"Clark Lane, meet Lois Kent."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Back again…sorry for the slight delay, I had a small bout with Writer's block. But I cured it with a few episodes of Smallville. Hope you enjoy the new chapter…more on Dr. Luthor soon…

_**Chapter 3**_

Meet Me at the Talon

Clark stared at the girl he now knew as Lois. He wasn't remotely surprised that this was the friend Chloe was always going on about, the quick tongue she had displayed in their previous encounter matched what he could remember of his cousin's descriptions perfectly. He was however surprised that she was so beautiful, she seemed to exude this aura of something Clark just couldn't put his finger on. It was almost intoxicating…but this was Chloe's best friend, almost sister. He shouldn't let his imagination run wild about a high school girl, it wasn't right and it wasn't allowed – even if she was 18. And now wasn't the time for such thoughts, he needed to follow through on Chloe's introduction – he didn't want to appear rude – so he stuck out his hand toward the girl who was still a virtual stranger and smiled.

"It's nice to meet you Lois."

Lois hesitated before daintily grabbing his hand and shaking it, "It's nice to meet you too Clark or should I say Sergeant Lane?"

"Let me guess, Chloe told you?"

Oddly, Lois blushed slightly and mumbled, "I heard you tell Chloe a little while ago."

"Really? Clark asked, clearly impressed. "That's some great hearing you have there Kent, ever consider joining the Army?"

Lois and Chloe exchanged quick glances, so quick that Clark was sure he imagined it.

"No," Lois replied. "I don't think that'd be such a great idea. I doubt I could pass the physical."

"Are you sure? You look to be in pretty peak physical condition."

This time he definitely saw the girls exchange glances before bursting out in laughter at what he could only assume was an inside joke. He couldn't work out anything he had said as amusing.

"Right. Well, should we begin the tour of this fine farming community?" Clark suggested.

Chloe worked hard to control her laughter before replying, "Yes. I believe so Sgt. Lane." She mock saluted him and headed towards the main door. Lois, still lightly chuckling, looked up and smiled. Clark believed that the smile was meant for himself when he saw that her eyes were pointing over his shoulder at some unknown figure.

It was Whitney. Lois abruptly stopped laughing and straightened herself up.

"Whitney?" Lois asked.

Whitney was looking at her funny. There was a glint in his eye that she had never seen before and it seemed to intensify as he glanced up at Clark. Was he jealous? It had to be that, right? Lois had a hard time remembering to breathe as Whitney turned to face her. His eyes were shining and the smile he gave her lit up his face.

"Lois," Whitney returned, stepping forward to hug her. "It's been too long."

Lois glanced over his shoulder at Clark who was slowly moving toward the door, a small frown on his face. Returning her attention to Whitney, Lois let a smile spread across her face although she didn't feel as happy as she thought she should. Whitney was standing right in front of her. He was showing an interest in her after years of feeling like just a neighbor. But she didn't want to spend too much time talking to the guy of her dreams. Lois wanted to go meet up with her best friend and get to know her new acquaintance Clark Lane a little better.

"Yeah, Whitney too long," Lois replied. "I'm surprised I didn't see you over the summer."

"You didn't hear?" Whitney said with a humongous grin crossing his gorgeous face. "I was at a training camp for Kansas State. They want to recruit me!"

"Whitney, that's great! I'm happy for you, that's what you've always dreamed of, right?"

"Not the only thing," Whitney returned, his voice growing softer and serious.

"Oh, really?" Lois asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling. The intense stare coming from Whitney was beginning to make her nervous.

"Oh, yeah," Whitney said. And then he kissed her hard on the mouth. After years of dreaming on kissing Whitney, this wasn't living up to her imagination. In fact, it was very unpleasant and she wanted him to stop. She could easily throw him off of her but then that would raise suspicions. Instead, she opted to adjust her strength just enough to push him gently off and if _that_ didn't work _then _she would…well, he wouldn't be the same after that.

"Whitney, I'm sorry. I have to go," Lois apologized, as she pushed away.

"I thought this was what you wanted," Whitney asked, clearly confused by Lois' behavior. "It's what I wanted. All summer, I couldn't stop thinking about you."

"I'm really sorry. I thought that this was what I wanted too but I don't – I think I – I'm just not," Lois babbled.

"Is this about that guy who you were with?" Whitney asked, his voice tinged with jealousy.

"Clark? No, I just met him. It has nothing to do with him. I'm sorry Whitney, but I have to go," Lois apologized for a last time before heading toward the doors the cousins waiting for her. She spotted the two leaning on Clark's car and made her way over to them.

"Ready to go?" a flustered Lois asked.

"Yeah, what took you so long?" Chloe asked.

"I ran into Whitney," Lois explained.

"That's it. You ran into Whitney, the guy of your dreams, and that's all you have to say?" Chloe asked.

Lois blushed slightly before answering, "Pretty much." Her eyes darted toward Clark briefly before climbing into the back seat of Clark's car, "So where to first?"

The other two followed her into the car, Clark climbing into the driver s seat, Chloe into the passenger's.

"Well," Chloe began. "I thought we could start by going into town."

"That's a good idea, we could stop at The Talon while we're there."

"The Talon? Is that place for bird lovers?" Clark asked, causing Lois and Chloe to laugh as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"No, it's a coffee shop. I'll give you the full history when we get there, it's actually quite interesting," Lois told Clark with a wink.

The trio made their way into town, talking about insignificant things as they walked around the main town square. When they arrived at The Talon, Clark ordered the coffees as Chloe and Lois found a table.

"I know you didn't want to say anything around Clark, but what happened with Whitney, Lois? You had this, weird look on your face when you left the school." Chloe inquired.

"He kissed me," Lois stated nonchalantly.

"He kissed you?" Chloe all but squealed. Chloe studied Lois' face – it was subdued, there was no hint of excitement or happiness for that matter. Realizing her mistake, Chloe continued, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing," Lois replied. "It's just…after wanting something to happen between us all these years, the reality didn't live up to the dream. No, it was more like…I had a change of heart."

Chloe nodded her head understandingly. She knew the disappointment that was often coupled with unrequited love. Her own experience with her childhood crush Jimmy Olsen had ended in heartbreak when he moved away abruptly without so much as a word. But that was a long time ago, she had moved on and Lois would too. Maybe sooner than she thought.

Clark returned to the table with three mugs of coffee perfectly made. He sat down with girls and observed their pensive faces. Once again, he was confused by their behavior. It was probably a girl thing or probably something they shared as best friends. Never having a close friend besides Aining, Clark was oblivious to the customs of true friendship. He felt like an intruder on their moment but as soon as he decided he should give it a moment, Lois lifted her head and locked eyes with Clark. She smiled a dazzling smile his way that let him know that everything was okay.

"Are you ready to learn about the legend of The Talon?" Lois asked.

"Sure," Clark replied, intrigued.

"It was a warm October night in 1952 when a man had the vision to create a movie theatre in Smallville. His dream was scoffed at but he didn't let that bother him. He knew that the sons and daughters of farmers would want to enjoy in the moving pictures, to have a place for date night. So he continued on his quest and just two years later, The Talon first opened for business with one screen playing the latest films of the day. The Talon continued as a specialty theatre until 15 years ago after the first meteor shower. For years, it remained closed down under the ownership of the man's family until one day a young girl with a new dream decided to transform the property into a new place for date night – a coffee shop. With the help of her friends, she made her dream a reality and this very place you're sitting in was born."

"Wow, that's some story," Clark marveled. "I assume that your family owns this place?"

"My family? No, we have a farm and property out there but nothing in town," Lois told him as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Oh. Well the way you told the story, I thought it was personal," Clark said honestly.

"I guess that's just a bit of my flair for the story. I love sensationalism…from time to time," Lois said.

"You're really good at," Clark grinned at her. Lois returned his smile and felt a bit of warmth crawl toward her face.

Throughout Lois' story and their back and forth, a small smile had crept on to Chloe's face as she realized the chemistry blazing between her best friend and cousin. Despite the odd feeling of uneasiness she had had when she introduced the two, she was being to see the start of something…interesting to say the least.

"Well," Chloe interjected between the smiles. We should get moving, there's more to see Sergeant Lane."

"Right," Clark said, as he cleared his throat. "Where to next?"

"How about the Kent farm?" Chloe suggested. "I'm sure Lois' parents would love to meet you. The Kents are great people."

"Yeah, my parents would love to meet anyone related to Chloe, they'd adopt her too if they could," Lois chimed in.

"You're adopted?" Clark asked as they climbed back into the car.

"Yeah, my parents adopted me when I was three. They're the only parents I know and the best a person could have."

"Sounds like you're pretty close."

"We are but that doesn't mean we don't disagree from time to time."

"At least your parents care," Clark mumbled.

"I'm sure your parents care about you," Lois told Clark, with sincerity.

"I wish that were true," Clark said, as he lapsed into silence. Chloe gave him directions to the farm as he continued his silent contemplation. Lois exchanged glances with Chloe, who shook her head imperceptibly. Lois guessed that this wasn't uncommon when in the company of Clark Lane. It looked like he could brood better than anyone she had ever met. When they turned down the path to Lois' house, the sun was beginning to set. She could see her parents were both home and relaxing in the kitchen as a roast simmered in the oven. They reached the end of the driveway, exited the car and Lois led the way into the yellow farmhouse.

"Mom? Dad?" Lois called. "I'm home! And I've brought company."

The trio entered the kitchen and came to a stop in front of two genial looking people – Jonathon and Martha Kent.

"Mom, Dad, you know Chloe," Lois said with a laugh. "But you don't know this guy. This is Clark Lane, Sergeant Clark Lane, Chloe's cousin."

"It's nice to meet you Sgt. Lane," Mr. Kent said, offering a hand in greeting. Clark shook the older man's hand and smiled.

"It's nice to meet you too, sir," said Clark.

"Would you like to stay for dinner Sgt. Lane, Chloe?" Mrs. Kent asked.

'That would be lovely and you can call me Clark."

"Well, Clark why don't you and Chloe have a seat? Lois can you help me set the table?"

"Yeah Mom, sure."

Lois moved into the kitchen and started grabbing plates and silverware for the guests. She glanced over at the table before grabbing the glasses from the cabinets; unfortunately the look didn't go unnoticed by her mother, who smiled to herself.

Dinner went by quickly with many stories told and laughs shared. Mr. and Mrs. Kent thoroughly enjoyed Clark's company and they could tell their daughter did too. It was obvious to the two parents that Lois and Clark had chemistry and they could tell he could be a good match for their daughter.

"Mr. and Mrs. Kent, thanks for letting me stay for dinner but I need to get back to base and get Chloe home,"

"You're welcome, Clark," Mrs. Kent told him. "It was lovely having you."

"Drive safely," Mr. Kent offered after a hand shake in parting.

"Thank you. It was nice meeting all of you. And Lois, if you really want to learn more about Army bases you're welcome to come by on Friday. I can give you the grand tour," Clark winked as he opened the door for himself and Chloe.

"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Kent and Lois I'll see you at school tomorrow. Try and meet me before homeroom so we can talk about what happened at school," Chloe said as she exited the house.

Lois gulped as her parents turned toward her and asked, "What happened at school today Lois Kent?"

***

Clark arrived back at Fort Ryan, exhausted after the long day with his cousin and new acquaintance Lois. She was really something, the Lois Kent. Clark couldn't stop thinking about her as he entered the main barracks to the call of a private saying,

"Sergeant Lane, phone call for you."

Clark moved toward the phone and picked up the receiver.

"Sergeant Lane here."

"Sergeant Lane, your mission aside from the training of the cadets will be to find the spaceship that landed in the meteor shower 15 years ago," a voice on the other end told him.

"Spaceship?" Clark asked as the line went dead. "What spaceship?"


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry for the long delay…had a really busy weekend but I've finally had the chance to sit down and write. And the best place for that is an airport or an airplane. My long layovers and flights produced two chapters that I'll be posting now. Enjoy.

_**Chapter 4**_

Life's Mysteries

A man shadowed in black sat at a desk. His profile was discernible only by the small sliver of light issuing from the desk lamp spilling onto a mountain of files. He sat still in a contemplative silence as he waited for the reports. A small man burst into the room, trembling slightly with excitement. The small man's name was unimportant, unlike the task set upon him by the shadowed man.

"Do you have the reports from the field?" the shadowed man asked

"Yes. It was here."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Without a doubt sir. It was here, many years ago, but it was here. We're searching the immediate area but we haven't gotten a hit yet."

"Have your sensors been recalibrated?"

"Yes, sir. If the item in question is located anywhere in the vicinity, then the new frequency will be able to detect it."

"Good. Contact our strongman and inform him about the item. I'm sure he'll prove valuable, my sources say he's the perfect soldier. Emotionally detached and appreciative of solitude. Yes, he'll do perfectly."

"Yes, sir," the little man mumbled as he backed out of the room.

Once the doors closed behind the messenger, the shadowed man sat forward and observed the folders of information spread across his desk. The profiles of each student at Smallville High. Sooner or later he would find one that was not like the others. He just hoped it wouldn't take too long. After all he didn't want to arouse any suspicions from the principal, the teaching staff or the students for that matter. No, for now he was going to keep the operation as private as possible, only trusting himself and his strongman with the information. It was the safest plan and the best plan for him to get what he wanted. Years of school and theories and postulating were behind him. Now, all he had to do was find the item and all his work would finally be widely acknowledged and the item would be put on display for all to see. Yes, his plan was perfect. He couldn't wait until it all played out.

***

As she laid in bed on Monday night, Lois thought about Clark's offer to visit the Army base on Friday. The prospect was exciting as she had never understood the need for gadgets and weapons when fighting but that's because she didn't need them – not that she went looking for fights. But there were occasions when she had to save people and that often ended in a trading of fists. It was much more interesting to see how people who didn't have her abilities were able to keep peace – since that was how she understood the army's actions. She didn't believe they killed for fun; they killed to save their own lives and the lives of others. Although that wasn't Lois' personal philosophy on the matter, she respected that some people felt that way and she would do whatever she could to try and preserve as many lives as possible rather than end them.

Her thoughts began to shift to the actual being that was Clark. He was magnificent. It was the only way she felt she could describe him accurately. His bright blue-green eyes that shone brightly when he smiled and his strong muscular frame sent shivers down her spine. She could imagine getting closer to him, touching him and – no she wouldn't go there, not yet anyway. But unlike when she thought of being with Whitney, she could imagine Clark touching her and kissing her and – well, she got the picture. She had never felt an instant connection to someone before. In addition to that, she had never had that feeling returned. She didn't need her x-ray vision to see that Clark was into her too.

When she had been tip-toeing around Whitney, she had been shy and unlike her normal vibrant self. With Clark, she instantly knew when they met in the hallway that he was the type of person who would understand her personality and accept her occasional brash mannerisms but know that she was really nice too. Her parents had raised her to be kind and polite, but she figured some of her latent alien personality had come through when she reached puberty.

Her thoughts turned now to her mysterious past. She knew she was an alien. She knew she had arrived on Earth in a spaceship that was hidden in her family's storm cellar. But she didn't know why. Or who her parents were, what they were like, what her planet was like. Lois desperately wanted to solve the puzzle of her heritage but she had no idea where to start. She had tried to open the spaceship several times but to no avail. It was impregnable. There was a key hole on the side, it was the only aberration on the smooth globe like ship. But Lois didn't have the key.

Chloe had suggested some possibilities about where Lois could have come from but Lois hardly believed she was from this Solar System or even The Milky Way galaxy. In her gut, she knew she was from light years and light years away. All Lois could do was hope that the mystery would be solved soon. Little did Lois know, it would be – and much sooner than she thought.

Lois fell asleep her mind still racing with thoughts about the possibilities of her home planet and the reason she was on Earth. Her dreams that night came as a mixture of naughty thoughts about Clark and of an oddly shaped object that she had seen once before, but she couldn't remember where. There was also a lab filled with green meteor rock solutions and strangle symbols that also looked familiar. When she woke the next day, she knew that she had to go to Fort Ryan at the end of the week – there questions would be answered.

***

Lois pulled up to the military base in her family's sedan and showed her identification before she was admitted through the gates of the compound. She was excited to see Clark again; he had proved very interesting during the tour of the town Chloe had insisted upon earlier in the week. Plus Lois thought he was really hot. Parking the car, Lois walked over to the building the man at the gate had pointed to and entered. There were several hallways with doors leading to more hallways – that much Lois could see with her normal vision. It was quite the maze but she needn't look far to find Sgt. Lane's office as Clark was standing outside of his door waiting for her.

"Sgt. Lane," Lois greeted with as much dignity she could muster after the dreams she had been having involving the man standing before her over the past few nights.

"Ms. Kent," Clark returned, just as politely as the girl who had constantly invaded his thoughts over the past few days.

***

Ever since meeting Lois, Clark had been slightly distracted. While performing mundane every day tasks, he would space out as he thought of her long brown mane of hair and her hazel eyes that changed from brown to green when the light hit them in just the right way. Clark would find himself smiling as he performed the boring tasks and he would entertain thoughts about the missing pieces of her life she had yet to tell him. She brought out a curiosity he had never experienced before. In the past his mind had been solely focused on the task at hand or completing his mission but when he was around Lois, he would and could forget everything that was weighing him down and just relax. It was the most unusual experience for him, he'd never had much experience with emotions and he had certainly never felt this way about anyone.

Clark knew that he had been attracted to other women before but never like the way he was attracted to Lois. It was like she intentionally drew him in, his gaze finding her automatically when she entered a room; like a magnet he could sense her presence. And it was all happening so quickly. Clark had seen Lois 3 other between today and Monday, when they met. And it was always the same, he would find her hazel eyes and they would be looking into his almost instantly.

Before he went to sleep last night, Clark dreamt of a mysterious figure, a woman by the look of it, with a pink cape billowing in the wind as she flew by him followed by a standard saucer shaped U.F.O. He believed it was probably a subconscious representation of the spaceship he had ordered to find, although he didn't know what to make of the flying woman – but that was a concern for another time.

His superiors had given him a box earlier that day full of equipment to help in his mission. The package included: a sensor calibrated to detect anomalies that corresponded to evidence found by a team of scientists that indicated alien life on Earth; an instruction booklet for the sensor; a belt clip for the sensor and a phaser, with a laser composed of elements that corresponded to the alien specimen they had found so far – the cartridge containing the laser was encased in lead and made it heavier than a normal .35 caliber but Clark didn't mind the extra weight. It eased his mind a bit because he had no idea what would happen if he found the ship and it was accompanied by the alien organisms that had come with the spaceship.

The sensor was now clipped to Clark's belt but the instructions lay neglected at the bottom of the box. He would read them later but it would have to wait until after Lois' visit. He completely understood the importance of the mission and the government's interest but for the moment it would have to wait. The guard at the gate alerted him that Lois had entered the compound and would be arriving shortly. He decided to wait for outside of his office, realizing it would be easier to seem composed if he were standing up rather than sitting down immersed in work. Besides he wouldn't be able to concentrate at his desk, especially with the prospect of seeing her at the forefront of his mind. They greeted each other from opposite ends of the hall. As Lois approached the sensor started to beep softly in his ear. Lois stopped momentarily tipping her head to the side inquisitively as id she heard a sound. Clark wasn't surprised; she had already demonstrated astounding aural skills that he still believed would greatly benefit the Army.

"What's that beeping noise?" Lois asked curiosity evident in her voice.

"It's this sensor I just got. I haven't had a chance to test it yet or read the instructions. It must be malfunctioning," Clark shrugged as he turned it off. "Shall we begin the tour?"


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 5**_

Finding Things that Were Lost

Lois' trip to Fort Ryan had proved greatly informative. Her understanding of military operations had improved a significant amount – which would be highlighted in an article for The Torch, which Chloe had asked for and that Sgt. Lane had allowed – her understanding of Clark Lane had also increased a dramatic amount.

Chloe told Lois Clark didn't open up very often. It was a defense mechanism, Chloe said and it was perfect for his job. While at the base, Clark had showed her the weaponry and introduced her to some of the other officers, who subtly dropped hints at Clark's imminent promotion. Lois believed it was a wonderful thing for Clark to be great at his job and so focused on what needed to be done, especially at so young an age. When she asked him about it, she found out he didn't feel the same way.

"So, it seems like you won't be introducing yourself as _Sergeant_ Lane for much longer," Lois hinted as they sat down for lunch in the mess hall. The food wasn't too bad Lois conceded, but she was secretly relieved that she had an iron stomach, if she didn't her gag reflex may have been activated much more quickly.

"It's been floating around," Clark replied. "But I don't think I'm ready for that yet. It's too much to live up to."

"What do you mean? Your father? Chloe told me your dad was a three-star General," Lois asked sympathetically.

"No, it's not that," Clark said with a shake of his head. "Well it's not entirely about that. My father was a devoted soldier to the U.S. Military. He never questioned his superiors and always got the job done with as few casualties as possible. As a general, he was a man to admire but as a father, well he left a lot of the job up to my imagination. I didn't have a normal childhood, I bounced around from Army base to Army base, across the globe. It doesn't bother me that I did, I learned a lot by growing up her and observing how my father took action. But lately, I've been wondering if I'm meant to spend my life as a military man. My duty is active for another year but you can never quit the Army. I found that out the hard way when I told my father I'd rather go college than enlist. He told me I was born into the military and I'd be a part of it until the day I die. Shortly after that…he died. Heart attack. Surprisingly, it wasn't a sad occasion. I loved my father but his lack of return, kept me from mourning the loss back then. Now, I know better and I know what my duties are for the country but sometimes I wish I had a different destiny."

Lois listened to him talk. She inferred a lot from what he said and from what he didn't say. In fact, his story had left her virtually speechless. It wasn't often that it happened that she could think of nothing to say or even only one thing. But she knew that all she needed to say was.

"I'm so sorry, Clark."

Clark looked up at her with a pained expression on his face. He hadn't even realized she was still there. Something about her being there had let him just talk, talk and talk. He couldn't remember ever talking that much about his past or how he was feeling to one person but he knew what had provoked him. Lois was special. She was different than anyone he had ever met. While she was sometimes a little bit rude, it was often unintentional and she would immediately apologize, he knew her heart was always in the right place. When she explained her stance on wars and violence, Clark listened carefully and began to think for the first time about what he was doing. Before, he had remained emotionless, unattached and focused on what he needed to do and the best way to go about it. Her words had triggered his confusion over his life in the Army.

But he didn't want to ruin Lois' visit with his emotions, they were his burdens. He may have shared some of them but he still had plenty that kept him weighed down and that he wasn't willing to share just yet no matter how special Lois was.

"There's no need to be sorry, Lois," Clark told her softly. "Now, you ready to finish the last of the tour?"

Lois nodded her head and stood up. They made their way out of the mess hall and into another corridor. There were doors all around that led to various projects that had been commissioned. As they passed one room, a blaring sound began to pound in Lois' head. The sound was one she had never heard before but that also seemed oddly familiar, it was coming from inside the room they had just passed and it was causing her pain, the pressure building in her ear drums and it began to press on her brain, she couldn't ignore it and she let out an unwonted scream of anguish. Clark, alarmed at the growl emanating from the girl's lips and the look of pain on her face, quickly recalled his First Aid training and tried to assist her by pressing on her temples, to ease the migraine. But that seemed to make it worse. Lois was fighting to keep from writhing on the floor in pain and completely forgetting everything else he learned, Clark panicked and ran for help.

Seizing the moment that Clark had turned to run down the hall, Lois burst into the room emitting the noise and found the source. It was a small octagonal disk that was hidden in a metal cupboard. As her fingers closed around it, the noise stopped and she could final feel the pain going away. Quickly, she exited the room and reassumed the position that Clark had left her in seconds before. She could hear footsteps coming, recognizing the heavy footfalls and breathing of Clark leading the way, she tried her best to look like she was still in some pain. There was no way she could have had a migraine that intense as a human and not still have some pain residing in her brain.

"Are you okay?" Clark asked as he reached her.

Lois nodded her head shakily and let him help her up. There was a medical officer standing with him who looked ready to spring into action but was disappointed when nothing needed to be done. He must have been a rookie.

"Are you sure you're okay? I've never seen anything like that before."

"It was just a migraine, a really intense migraine," Lois confirmed. "I'll be fine but I think I should head home now. Thanks for everything Sgt. Lane."

Clark nodded in agreement that Lois should leave but he felt reluctant for her to leave his presence. It was about time she left though, he did have a lot of work to do and an instruction manual to read.

Clark walked Lois out of the compound and toward the gates where her car was parked.

"I'm sorry for the scare in there," Lois apologized.

"As long as you're okay," Clark told her, concern apparent in his voice.

"Don't worry about me. Besides I'm sure you have other important matters to attend to than giving tours of the base to high school students."

Clark wanted to tell her, he didn't think of her that way but he hesitated as he looked into her golden eyes. There was a light dancing in her eyes that wasn't from the rays of the sun shining down upon them. Suddenly, Clark had the urge to kiss her he tilted his head down towards her lips and stopped short of touching his to hers. Deeply embarrassed, he backed away and gave a swift goodbye before disappearing back into the base.

***

Following his encounter with Lois by her car, Clark made it back to his office mentally kicking himself for his sudden 'stage-fright'. But he had more important things to do than think about himself. His main priority was finding this elusive space-ship. And to do that he needed to figure out how the sensor worked. It was odd how it had begun beeping when Lois was around but that could only mean that she'd spent far too much time in Smallville. From the intelligence he could gather, there were samples of alien geology littered all over the town.

Clark sat down at his desk and opened the instruction booklet, gearing himself for a long night.

*

"Hey Chloe," Lois greeted as she entered the school newpaper's office later that evening. "I can't believe you're still here."

"Well Lois, you know news never sleeps," Chloe countered with a smile.

"Tell me about it," Lois said as she sat down on the edge of Chloe's desk.

"So how was your day at the base," Chloe inquired.

"Interesting."

"Interesting? That's all you have to say?"

"That's what it was, it was interesting. I saw a whole new side of the human mind…it's all in the article," Lois explained as she placed her typed article in front of Chloe. Chloe picked up and began to skim it before continuing,

"And my cousin, was he handsome as usual/"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, very much so," Lois replied distractedly. She was contemplating whether she should mention the object she had found while on the base. The object she knew would open her spaceship and that literally was the key to finding out about her heritage. She knew Chloe would understand but she wasn't ready to share it with anyone until she found who she really was, all by herself.

"Well Lois, I like it. It'll run on Monday," Chloe said, trying to keep the worry she had for her best friend out of her voice.

"Great," Lois replied as she walked toward the door. "Can't wait to read it. See you later Chloe."

"Bye, Lois," Chloe said with a smile, even though it was the last thing she wanted to do, especially with what she had just discovered about their biology teacher.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: School's back in session so my updates will probably be pretty spaced out. Review if you want!

_**Chapter 6**_

Self and Non-Self Discovery

Chloe dug deeper into the sea of encrypted files she'd lifted from L.L. International's hard drive. She'd easily hacked the system but by-passing the firewalls had been time-consuming. After hours of painstaking work she had little to show for her efforts but for the few files she was currently working on. Chloe hoped that it would be enough for her to find out some information on Luthor's plans. The meteor rock samples were just the beginning, Chloe could feel it in her gut. And she also knew that somehow his plans would lead to Lois and Chloe wouldn't let anything happen to her. That's why she continued on into the night, trying to find a flaw in the codes that kept her from seeing the information she desperately wanted know – she was a decent hacker but she wasn't a miracle worker and if she couldn't get through a hole in the fortified security surrounding Lex Luthor's plans, she would just have to find another way in. Bingo! She finally was able to crack the encryption but what she unearthed was something she wished she'd never seen.

***

Clark was worried about Lois. Her migraine had terrified him, more than he was even willing to admit to himself. While she seemed fine as she left the base, Clark couldn't help wonder how she was doing, what she was doing, if she would have another one. He hoped that she wouldn't – seeing Lois in pain like that had caused Clark to panic. Sergeant Clark Lane wasn't accustomed to panic, or any emotion resembling it. For so long he had kept emotions in a separate part of his sub-conscious but somehow in the short time that he had known her, Lois had broken the dam and the flood he was experiencing was overwhelming. He had no words to describe how he felt but there was this warm feeling he would get whenever he thought of Lois, a tingle in his extremities when he looked in to her eyes and an odd feeling of terror when she briefly brushed against him, as if by mistake.

He had to know if she was alright, it was driving him crazy not knowing. But he couldn't get himself to call. Several times, Clark picked up the phone, dialed the number to the Kent Farm and heard it ring before he quickly ended the call and went to pacing. What would he say when someone picked up? He could just ask if Lois was alright, that question was safe enough but he wanted to talk to her, he wanted to hear the melody in her voice and the sincerity of her words that he had become accustomed to over the past week. What if she couldn't answer? What if she didn't want to talk to him? It was just too much for Clark. He had been driven speechless, which most people would assume isn't hard for a man of few words. But it was the complete opposite. Often Clark had something to say, he was just reluctant to offer his opinion, since what he said wouldn't matter in the big scheme of things. He only piped up when necessary. But not having anything to say was scary for him. It had never happened before and he knew it was all because of Lois.

His thoughts were driving him wild in the silence that consumed the base. He had to get into town where voices could distract him. The Talon would probably offer him that relief. Clark climbed into his car and headed for the epicenter of the small town, to the coffee shop his new friend Lois had introduced him to. As he stepped through the door, he realized it probably hadn't been a good idea to come to a place that reminded him if Lois and her vibrant personality. He turned on his heel to leave just as he heard someone say:

"…and if that soldier punk hadn't showed up, she would be putty in my hands just like she was before _he_ showed up. I was just stinging Lana along long enough for the other one to get so much more puppy eyed. If she hadn't pulled away the other day, I know I would've…"

Curious as to what soldier in town could have affected a local boy's interest and his lack of propriety when it came to discussing women, Clark continued his turn until he had completed a 360. He was staring at the face of Whitney Fordman who continued to jabber on about this unknown girl and soldier, who may have been one of his own recruits when he saw Whitney's lips form the words: Lois Kent.

Without realizing it, a low growl had come out of Clark's mouth and before he knew it he launched himself at Whitney and began to pummel him. It was a second before Whitney understood that Clark was hitting him but once he realized he was in a fight, he began to hit back. The only problem, Clark was a trained soldier and he wasn't just some other dumb jock that Whitney was used to fighting. Whitney could hardly get a punch in edgewise so he took to blocking and trying to cover his most vulnerable points.

A crowd had gathered around and shouts of "Fight! Fight! Fight!" could be heard amongst the sounds of knuckles hitting against bare flesh and the cracking of ribs as Clark continued his assault on the boy. It was minutes before, Clark felt himself being bodily lifted from the young boy's bruised body and even longer before he heard his breath coming in ragged pants. Clark looked down at Whitney, who was whimpering slightly but also trying to put on a brave face. With the unknown person still holding onto him, Clark leaned down to the ground and whispered to Whitney: "Never let me hear you talk about Lois in that way again."

The person holding onto his arm slowly led him out of the coffee shop and down the street. Clark looked around to see who was accompanying him and was shocked to find Mr. Jonathon Kent pushing him down the street.

"Mr. Kent," Clark began.

"It's alright son," Jonathon replied. "We all lose our tempers once in awhile. But that was a little excessive don't you think. Clark, you're a member of the United States Army. You shouldn't be getting into fights with local high school boys."

"Yes, Mr. Kent I realize that. It was a mistake but I don't regret it. That boy was being disrespectful," Clark practically mumbled the last part.

A small smile tugged at the corner's of Jonathon's lips as he replied, "Yes, he did. But Clark, Lois can take care of herself. She doesn't need you to fight her battles for her."

"Yes, sir," Clark said.

"But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate it. It's nice to know a man such yourself has taken interest in my daughter. She deserves that but next time keep your cool, or I might not be so nice about it."

Jonathon had led Clark to his car. Clark nodded in reply to Mr. Kent's comment. Shaking his hand, Clark went over to the driver's side and climbed in. He gave Mr. Kent a small wave before pulling away from the curb and traveling on into the dark farm country where his current home resided.

Mr. Kent stood on the sidewalk and watched at Clark's the taillights on Clark's car disappeared into obscurity. With a sigh, he turned around and headed back to his own truck, his mind filled with thoughts and worries that he felt increased with each passing day.

***

Lois had returned to farm after dropping her article off at The Torch. Instead of super-speeding Lois drove, hoping to give herself time to think about the key she had stolen. Had she really stolen it since it belonged to her? She wasn't sure if she could deal with the "Finders Keepers" logic that military would probably employ if they knew she had made off with the alien technology. The drive was quiet, Lois could hear the sounds of crickets and dogs barking, fused with the sound of the car's engine and the tires upon the asphalt. It was relaxing. It kept her from focusing on the issues of theft and more on the issue of what to do with the key now that she had it.

If she opened the spaceship, she would do it alone. Her past, she felt, was up to her to discover. What if she found out that her homeworld was a horrible place, filled with horrible people? What if she found out that she was secretly married? What if her birth parents hadn't loved her and that's why she was sent to Earth? Those fears would only be amplified if she found out there was truth to any of them with someone else in the storm cellar.

Then there was the idea of her parents. Her adoptive parents. They wouldn't want her to know about where she came from, would they? They'd probably think she'd want to return to her planet (if that were possible) and leave them forever. But Lois would never do that. She loved them and Earth too much. Plus, she knew nothing else.

The gravel kicking up in the driveway signaled that she was finally home. Putting the car in park, Lois emerged from the sedan with her mind resolved. She would open the shift and finally know who she really was.

***

The key fused with the slot on the side of the ship and a bright light emerged from the capsule. A voice echoed through in Lois's mind.

"Jara-El, my only child. You are the last survivor the planet Krypton. If you are hearing this, you will have reached your 18th year in Earth years. Your mother and I loved you very much, which is why I constructed this ship to save you from our planet's fate. I hope you will look to me for guidance as your journey continues. Farewell."

The light dimmed and Lois stood in shock. Jara-El. The name floated through her mind. To one part of her mind, it felt warm and comforting in a way "Lois" never had. But to the rest of her mind, Lois was still her name and would always be her name.

But the voice in her head had said she her planet had been destroyed. Maybe Chloe's theory about meteor rocks had been right after all. And they could finally think of a new name for the rocks, Chloe could help her with that later. Right now, Lois had to deal with her new found knowledge and there was no place like her Fortress of Solitude to do that.

***

"Sergeant Kent, there's someone here to see you," a private on the base informed Clark as he returned from town. "He's in your office."

Exhausted from his constant stream of thoughts following his altercation with Whitney and the fight itself, Clark found himself grumbling as he made his way toward his office. Opening the door, he saw figure shrouded in the shadows. The light on Clark's desk lit up and he saw the man's piercing eyes stare right into his.

"Sergeant Kent. I understand you're the man who's been charged with looking for my spaceship."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews! Take it as a miracle that this was updated so quickly. I had some time on my hands. Hope you enjoy. Review if you want!

_**Chapter 7**_

Emotions Run Deep

"_Your_ spaceship?" Clark asked confusion apparent in his voice.

"Not my spaceship per se," the man replied. "But the one I've been looking for. I've been unsuccessful up until now but I know you'll get the job done."

"Why did you pick me? Why are you so sure I can find it?"

"We'll leave that for another time. It was nice meeting you Sergeant Kent. Have a good day."

The mystery man switched off the desk lamp and turned in the swivel chair. Clark reached to his right to turn on the overhead light to discover the man had vanished into thin air.

***

"So, you're from a planet called Krypton?"

"Yes. And my real name is Jara-El."

"I like Lois better."

"Thanks, Chloe. That makes this easier."

"Sorry, so this voice, in your head was your biological father?"

"No, not exactly. Well, I don't really know. He just said I was his daughter and the last survivor of Krypton but it was like a recording.

"It was a recording that happened in your head?"

"Yes. I know it sounds strange but hey I _am_ an alien."

"I think intergalactic traveler has a better ring to it."

Lois laughed and said, "That's so nice of you to come up with something that sounds better and less frightening than alien."

"That's what I'm here for Lois," Chloe smiled as she wandered around the loft. "Speaking of names what are we, that is those of us who know of your 'uniqueness' going to call your weakness. It should have a more imposing name than meteor rocks."

"Chloe, you said the word 'weakness' like it's amusing."

"Not amusing but I think our little band of secret-keepers should have another name for meteor rocks. Especially since you finally believe my theory about them being part of your home planet."

Lois frowned slightly before asking, "So what name are you thinking of?"

"Kryptokiller."

"That's a bit morbid don't you think?"

"Maybe. Do you have anything better?" Chloe challenged.

"How about 'kryptonite'? They are meteorites after all."

"It's your weakness," Chloe shrugged.

"Don't be so flippant about it Chloe."

"Sorry. I've just been up all night…editing Monday's edition of The Torch."

"Don't worry about it. I know how you get when you're sleep-deprived. Any new stories since I dropped off my article last night?"

"Now that you mention it, yes there is," Chloe began warily.

"What is it?" Lois could tell by Chloe's tone she wasn't going to like it.

"Whitney's in the hospital," Chloe stated. Before Lois could respond, Chloe continued, "And my 'wonderful' cousin Clark put him there.

"Clark? He didn't mention that last night," Lois said with a frown.

"Last night?" Chloe asked.

***

Clark paced his office uncertain what to make of his encounter with the shadowed man who commissioned him for this special project. In addition to that, he finally began to realize the magnitude of his actions at The Talon. He had assaulted that boy and left him to suffer from the pain he inflicted. In the moment, Clark hadn't cared about what happened to the kid, he was just so upset that someone would say something like that about his friend Lois. His friend. Lois, the girl who captured his heart in the week that he's known her. That friend. She wasn't going to like what he had done. And that was worried him. Now he had even more to worry about with Lois. First her health now her reaction to his attack on her fellow classmate.

He had to see her. He had to explain what had happened. But he also needed to see her face, he couldn't believe it been hours since he'd seen her. Clark stopped pacing and hastily made his way to the car he had vacated just ten minutes ago.

***

Half an hour later Clark was sitting in his car, that was stalled outside of the Kent driveway. The uneasiness that had prevented from calling earlier had returned. What would he say to her now that he was here? Just as he was deciding to leave, a faint beeping began to echo in his ear. He had heard the noise before, but where…? Earlier that day, when Lois came to the base…The sensor! Why was it going off now? Clark shifted in his seat and leaned toward his driver's side window and the Kent Farm, the sound intensifying slightly.

Curious, Clark turned off his car and got out. He wasn't imagining things. The signal was getting stronger as he made his way down the gravel driveway. His ears were practically ringing as he neared the Kent family's storm cellar. Something told him this was it; this was what he had been searching for. But why was it here? Clark looked down at the double doors and saw that they were unlocks. Glancing around, Clark bent down and opened the door. Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Clark descended the stairs.

***

Lois stood in the loft dubbed "Fortress of Solitude" thinking about what she'd just learned about her past. Her imagination was running wild with images of what Krypton may have looked like, what her biological parent were like, what had happened to cause the destruction of her planet. The pictures she was forming were so vivid and realistic, she began to suspect that maybe they weren't figments of her imagination but instead memories implanted in her mind but the ship.

What she saw was breath taking. The crystalline structures, the advanced civilization, the strong sturdy frames of the society that no longer lived but lived on through her. She thought of what the voice, which she assumed was her father's, had said about his guidance. Could she bring him back from the dead using the ship's technology? Would she not be alone on Earth? Her mind was so overwhelmed with the possible implications of the few words her biological father had "spoken" to her; she barely heard the slight knock on the wooded handrail.

"Clark," Lois whispered as she turned around. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you were doing," Clark told her, an unreadable expression on his face. "You really scared me earlier. How are you?"

"I'm better now," Lois replied with a soft smile.

""Are you sure? You look…sad," Clark finished. Truthfully, he wanted to say beautiful but he figured that she also looked sad and decided to go for what he believed to be the easier option. God, he was such a coward. How could he be such a great soldier, willing to protect his country no matter what but be so afraid of just one girl?

"I'm fine. I was just thinking about my birth parents." Was Lois imaging or did Clark just gulp?

"Your birth parents? You know who they are?" he asked.

"Yes. I just found out that they're dead. They have been for awhile."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. They knew it was going to happen, that's why they sent me…to the adoption agency."

"Is it hard to be adopted? Knowing that you don't exactly fit in with your family?

"Not really. My parents have always been there for me. I've never felt like I wasn't meant to be part of their family. It was fate that they found me and couldn't be luckier that they did. I probably would have been a completely different person if I was fou – adopted by anyone else."

"Maybe. But I'm glad that the Kent's found you. They've raised you to be…amazing."

Clark looked momentarily taken aback by his admission but relaxed when he saw the large genuine smile plastered on Lois' face. He was barely aware that she had moved closer to him. She placed one hand on his chest and the other on the side of his face.

"You are a great friend Clark. I'm so glad to have met you," she whispered in his ear. She then kissed him on the cheek and walked out of the loft, leaving a stunned Clark alone with his thoughts.

***

The shadowed man returned to his office after his meeting with Sgt. Lane. It had been a long day of planning to take over the world and he was ready to call it a day when a sound caught his attention. It was the sound of the sensor's he'd had calibrated and the map he was looking at indicated that it was Sgt. Lane's sensor going off at the Kent Farm in Smallville. Shortly after identifying the source though, the blip on the screen disappeared. But the man didn't care, he'd seen enough. He knew that it was the break he'd been looking for and that it was time to move on to phase two.

Forgetting his fatigue, the man returned to his desk, searching for a file. When he found it he began to flip through it a smile forming on his lips.

"Well, well, Lois Kent. I thought there was something different about you," Lex Luthor whispered to himself. Monday's biology class was going to be very interesting.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I've really been neglecting my homework because I just can't seem to stop myself from writing this story. So, I really hope you enjoy it and that I don't fail all of my exams due to my lovely Smallville. Which I really don't mind ;) Hope you enjoy this chapter. Review if you want!

_**Chapter 8**_

Where Do We Go From Here?

Lois Kent sat deep in thought in Smallville Medical's waiting room Saturday afternoon. She had just seen Whitney who had been asleep when she arrived but was suffering from several broken ribs and quite a few bruises but he would recover; in fact they were releasing him later that evening. As she sat though her thoughts bounced off each other like gas molecules contained in a small volume, constantly moving from the front of her mind to the back. The thoughts that lobbied for attention the most were: Would Clark really have done this to Whitney? What could have made him attack Whitney? Do I really know Clark? Is he really as nice as he seems? Lois' conflicted thoughts were interrupted when she heard someone call out her name.

"Lois."

Lois turned toward the voice and was shocked to see the tall muscular frame standing in front of her. Quickly, but not quicker than a normal human, Lois jumped up from her seat and dragged Clark out of the Medical Center.

"Clark, are you crazy? Don't you know that the Fordmans have filed a restraining order against you? You can't be in the medical center," Lois told him in a hushed tone.

"I know, Lois. But I-I knew that you'd be here and I want – no, I have to talk to you," Clark said, nervousness laced through his words.

"Okay, Clark I'm listening," Lois replied, hands on her hips.

"I suppose you heard about what happened to Whitney?"

"Wow, they really stress observation during Army training, huh?"

"You're right that was a dumb question."

"Yes, it was a dumb question Clark. In fact, the only smart question surrounding this whole thing is…why? Why did you do it Clark?" Lois glared at him. She shouldn't be this angry at him, she no longer had feelings for Whitney but her new friend beating up on a guy that he barely knew, really rubbed her the wrong way. Maybe she had been looking for the best in Clark and therefore ignored what was under the surface all along, a soldier without a care in the world whose only real pleasure in life was causing pain. Maybe she was hurt that the guy she was beginning to care about had done something so cruel to a person she knew. She didn't know why, but she knew she was mad.

The glare that Lois had directed towards Clark startled him. She was still beautiful when angry, but the deep disappointment and hurt mixed in with the anger on her face made him wish that he could crawl into a hole and never come out again. That look was one he never hoped to see again.

"I – I, um, well, what hap-happened, I – I, uh," The Sergeant stammered. Lois' glare intensified. She hoped that it was scaring him but she also secretly hoped that she didn't accidentally lose control of her heat vision, because even though she was upset with Clark, she didn't want burn him to a crisp.

"Clark, just tell me," Lois said in a low voice that almost came out as a growl.

"He said something, something that was…unforgivable," the soldier finally blurted out.

"Care to clarify?"

"Not particularly, no," Clark replied seriously.

"And you expect me to forgive you for seriously injuring a person I've known for most of my life with that explanation?" Lois asked, her voice raising a few octaves.

"Lois, calm down. I didn't mean to hurt him, I was just so angry that he would say that about – about…" Clark realized he had gone too far. Now he knew she'd get the truth out of him.

"About what exactly? Please, Clark I need to know or else…" Lois didn't know how to finish that sentence. Or else she'd stop being friends with him? Or else, they'd never…she just didn't know how to answer that sentence.

Clark looked at her. He didn't like seeing her in pain, physical or emotional. He didn't like causing her pain. Seeing her disappointment made him want to – What was he doing, he shouldn't be scared of a girl! He was a soldier for the United States Army for goodness sakes. He could tell Lois what happened. He wasn't afraid of emotions. All he had to do was think of it like a mission, remove himself from the report. It was that easy. At least it would've been before he met her. It was all so unnatural for Clark. He'd grown up in a home without love, just orders that were to be followed – no exceptions. Now…well, now he didn't know what to do. With Lois' eyes narrowed in that way, filled with reserved emotion, well, frankly it unnerved him. This was so much harder than anything he could even have imagined.

"Lois I'm not sure, I can say it out loud. I'm not exactly comfortable with…uh, with what was said."

"Oh, grow up Clark."

"Fine," Clark's resistance finally shattering. "Fine, you want to know so badly? I'll tell you. That little punk up there objectified you."

"He objectified me?" Lois asked with a hint of humor. She was still angry but Clark's choice of words couldn't have been funnier to the young alien girl.

"Yes, and it's not funny. He was saying the only reason he was with his old girlfriends for so long was to get you to moon over him and be putty in his hands before…"

Lois looked at the now silent Clark. She was staring into his magnificent eyes, in search of a lie. She tuned into his heartbeat focusing on the rhythm that was rapid with emotion but not fear of being caught. Lois supposed that what Clark had said wasn't funny, it was sweet. Not what Whitney had said about her, if she had heard him he'd be much worse for wear than having a few cracked ribs, but the care in Clark's words was sweet. He really was the nice guy she believed him to be and not only that he was honorable. But she had to set him straight on one account.

"Clark, I don't need you to protect me."

"Your father told me the same thing," when her eyebrow quirked in confusion, Clark continued, "He was the one to break up the fight. He told me you didn't need my protection."

"Well, you should listen to him, he knows what he's talking about."

"I understand that. But it doesn't mean I would change what I did, even if I could magically go back in time."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them as they looked at each other. Clark studied Lois' reaction to his words while she tried to decipher the deeper meaning behind his statement. It was a stalemate in regards to staring but their eyes said so much more than they were willing to expound upon with verbal vocabulary. They were both surprised when the space dividing them as they argued had suddenly narrowed and Lois could feel Clark's breath on her face. Her eyes tilted up towards his and then found themselves staring at his mouth. She braced herself for what she imagined what they would feel like if they touched her own, softly and sweetly or rough and passionately; she wondered what he would taste like and could barely keep her imagination at bay, when he removed all the questions from her mind and captured her mouth with his own.

Seconds passed, then minutes and almost more before they broke the spell keeping them locked in a constant battle of emotion. Lois' eyes were dewed with admiration for the man standing before her and Clark's eyes danced a waltz of desire as he stared down at her. A frown began to form on Lois' face and Clark panicked. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to kiss her; it had been the most amazing thing he'd experienced in his life but maybe it wasn't the same for her. Before he could think of what words he would stumble over in an attempt to ask what was wrong, Lois asked:

"Why didn't you tell me about Whitney last night?"

"Wha – what?" Clark asked, surprised by her question.

"Why didn't you tell me about Whitney last night, when you came to visit me?"

"Oh, I forgot," he answered stupidly.

"You forgot? You forgot you beat the crap out of someone? Is it that easy to forget? It must be a daily occurrence if it is that easy."

"I forgot because you seemed so upset that night," Clark clarified.

"Oh, right," Lois replied her anger momentarily abated. "Did you come over that night to tell me?"

"Yes. But I got distracted on my way up to your loft and – " Clark began.

"Wait, what do you mean you "got distracted"? Lois asked her voice full of curiosity and possibly fear.

"Oh, you know, I was looking at th-the, um…cows. Their, uh, coats are so, um, shiny in the moonlight. I've never really been around cows," Clark lied wildly and unsuccessfully.

"Right. The cows," suspicion now laced through her words. "Look, Clark, I have to tell you something."

Clark swallowed nervously. Was she going to reveal why there was a spaceship in her family's storm cellar? And if she was, did he really want to know? His thoughts almost carried him away when Lois' voice permeated the hazy cloud of uncertainty surrounding him.

"I don't think we should see each other anymore."

"But Lois we are even dating."

"I know we're not. That's not what I meant. What I mean to say is…you've been great friend this past week, I've been going through a difficult time lately. Especially with what I found out about my birth parents. And I think that your arrival has just kicked up the dust surrounding everything that used to be so clear for me. So, I think that we should probably avoid seeing each other for awhile, at least until I can figure out some parts of my life."

"But, I don't understand…is this about the kiss?"

"No. it's not. It's about me, my life is…complicated and I need some time to figure things out before I welcome a new person into my life. Besides, you're one hell of a kisser," she finished before lightly punching him on the arm and turning away.

"Wait, Lois!" Clark cried out.

Lois turned and faced him. The confusion was apparent on his face and he seemed like he wanted to say something but he couldn't figure out how. Figuring he needed help, Lois gently asked, "Yes, Clark?"

"I – I, uh, I think that…I need to…uh, never mind. I hope that when the dust settles we can be friends."

"I'd like that Clark. But right now, I need to go…think."

Lois walked around the corner out Clark's line of sight. When she was sure that he could no longer see her, she super-sped back to the farm. Making her way to the storm cellar, she inspected it and found that it was unlocked, but the lock was still intact. Slapping herself on the forehead, she stumbled backwards, having hit herself a bit harder than intended, she reveled in her own stupidity. This had to be what Clark meant by 'getting distracted'. She just couldn't figure out what would have led him to the storm cellar in the middle of the night in the first place.

She was relieved however to find that the ship was still there, unmoved from when she saw it last. Removing the key from her pocket, Lois once again opened the ship. Saturday night, she had strongly considered the words of her father about the possible guidance he offered.

As the ship opened, the voice of her dead father echoed once again.

"Jara-El. My child. You have returned. Do you wish to experience the guidance I have prepared for you?"

Nervously, Lois asked aloud, "What exactly do you mean by 'guidance'?

"I refer to the knowledge of our Kryptonian civilization and the other 28 known galaxies that is housed within the ship's crystal motherboard. If you wish, take it to what is known as the Earth's arctic. You will know what to do once you get there."

Lois looked at the ship and found what she believed to be where the ship's directives were housed. Her touch opened a compartment that held the crystal. She stared at it in wonder, trying to decide if she should follow the instructions of the voice in her head. What if she was going crazy? She had to be if she was listening to not just a disembodied voice but a disembodied voice in her head. But it felt so real and as if it weren't her imagination. Her confusion over why she was here on Earth aside from her parent's saving her life, was eating away at her. Curiosity mounted as she looked more closely at the crystal. Ingrained were small shields that housed a symbol she couldn't understand, but the pattern repeated throughout. Glancing back at her ship she was surprised to see the shield in the small recess that had once housed her. For reasons unknown to her, Lois began to speed toward the Arctic, her thoughts clear of self-doubt or worries. She knew what she must do.

Upon arriving in the frozen desolate tundra, Lois took one last look at the crystal before launching it over a crest miles and miles away. Moments later, she felt the ground shake beneath her as a large crystals began to emerge from the place she imagined the crystal to have landed. Once the shaking subsided, Lois sped to the gargantuan structure and entered. It felt oddly like home and the notion was reinforced when she once again heard the disembodied voice, although this time not in her head greet her.

"Welcome Jara-El. I am Jor-El, your father."

Coming soon, Chapter 9: Monday Science Madness


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Wow. This was a really difficult chapter to get out. I like it but don't love it but I needed to write it so I could get on with the story. Enjoy! Review if you want.

_**Chapter 9**_

Monday Science Madness

The bell signaling the beginning of another banal Monday of high school fell deafly on the super-powered ears of one Lois Kent. She had returned to Smallville late the night before to a combination of angry parents and an irate best friend.

"_Chloe calm down, I'm fine," Lois repeated as Chloe's temper almost blew off the roof of the Kent's barn, where Chloe had dragged Lois once her parents had chided her for not leaving a note. _

"_Lois, you can't just take off like that and not tell anyone. What if something happened to you?" Chloe stressed. _

"_Chlo, you know as well as I do, there's not much out there that can hurt me."_

"_Yes, but unlike you I also know there's someone after you."_

_Lois froze in shock. Silence filled the barn as Lois tried to find a response to what Chloe had just revealed. _

"_They know who I am?"_

"_No. Not yet. At least I'm quite sure they don't."_

"_But…?"_

"_But, they know a spaceship came to Earth with the first meteor shower and that it landed somewhere in Smallville. They have teams scouring the county trying to find it." Chloe took a breath before continuing, " And they know that the alien geological samples known to us as Kryptonite, will probably cause harm to whatever inhabited the space ship – or so they've theorized."_

"_They know all of that?" Lois asked, floored. "Who exactly are they?"_

_Chloe hesitated before responding, "A team of scientists in the employ of one Dr. Lex Luthor."_

Chloe's revelations the night before had caused Lois serious discomfit as she tried to sleep. Nightmares of her being poked and prodded in a laboratory, forbidden from seeing her friends and family ever again and being used as a weapon for Lex Luthor's own personal agenda, haunted her. Finally giving up on sleep, Lois sat in the barn awaiting the dawn of the next school day, contemplating if there was a way for her to unobtrusively withdraw from AP Biology. The only problem was she couldn't think of anything. She was a straight A student and she was the favorite student of all the teachers at Smallville High. There was no plausible explanation she could find to get her out of that class with arousing suspicion from Dr. Luthor. From what Chloe had told her about the files she had decrypted, Luthor probable knew everything about each student roaming the halls and her little stunt on the first day of school had to add to his own odd sense of curiosity. Maybe she could get him fired before she was forced to keep her attendance record perfect and grab a seat in his classroom. No, that was no good. Finding a just cause and convincing the principal and subsequently the school board to relinquish from his post would take weeks and Lois only had a few hours. She really hoped that he hadn't stumbled upon her secret but she had to face the fact that there was strong likelihood that he did. And she came to that conclusion not just through observations of logic but also because a deep unsettled feeling began to brew in her stomach, it had intensified gradually since Chloe had reprimanded her the night before, leaving her more tired than usual and more wary.

Where was Chloe with a good plan when she needed one anyway? The last time she had laid eyes on the small blonde girl was the day before, which was odd now that she considered it as they usually met outside of the school or in The Torch to talk about the simple mundane parts of their lives. Before her worrying nature got the best of her, her unofficial sidekick appeared at her side – slightly out of breath.

"Chloe where have you been? Homeroom starts in 2 minutes," Lois supplied with a glance down at her watch.

"I know," Chloe panted. "But I was doing some last minute research and before I knew it I was running late."

"Did you find anything important?"

"I did…and I don't think you're not going to like it."

"Why not?"

"Well, because it turns out that Dr. Luthor is actually pretty famous outside of Kansas. His father runs a company called Luthorcorp and L.L. International is a subsidiary of that. Once I found out about that connection, I did some checking into Luthor senior and it appears that he has a lot of friends in high places. And while I'm sure our mad scientist's father has nothing to do with this, I'm pretty sure that his connections have carried over to the heir of the fortune."

"So, you're saying that Luthor has some big wigs in his pocket. Do you think they could be pulling his strings?"

"Actually I think the, you know, 'alien thing' is more of a hobby and individual pursuit than a government operation. But that doesn't mean he hasn't asked for help."

"What do you mean help?" Lois asked concernedly.

"I mean that Uncle Sam may have pulled some strings with the military and Luthor's using them to find out about, well – you. I found a classified document listing the details of some soldier that was unnamed. But apparently he was highly recommended," Chloe took a breath of air before continuing. "But that's not all. Supposedly, this soldier would come to Smallville under the guise of being a trainer of new recruits and would be commissioned to –"

The sound of the tardy bell rang through the halls and effectively cut of Chloe's sentence. If Lois had used her super hearing to hear the end of Chloe's sentence she would have just been listening to the sound of the bell. Because Chloe's mouth had formed a surprised O and was looking in abject shock over Lois' shoulder. Dreading what she would find as she turned, Lois let out a breath she had inadvertently been holding when she realized it was just Clark. As she looked into his eyes though, Lois began to recall what Chloe had just relayed to her and her eyes began to widen and her body tensed with fear as she realized that Clark was the soldier that had come to find her spaceship…and her.

"Clark. What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you Lois. It's urgent," Clark insisted.

"Sorry, Clark but we're late for homeroom. Maybe this can wait until after school?" Chloe asked as she began to drag Lois away from her frowning cousin.

"But Chloe, it can't wait. I need to –" Clark tried to reason. It was too late the girls had disappeared behind the door to one of the many classroom doors. He sighed loudly before heading out of the school, cursing himself inwardly for not trying harder to get Lois to talk to him. She needed to know about Luthor. Clark contemplated marching back into the school and barging into her homeroom and…well, he didn't really know what he could do, aside from getting thrown out and banned from school property.

It had taken him awhile but he finally realized who was behind the mysterious messages and shadowed men who were giving him assignments. It all went back to when he was first assigned to Fort Ryan; it had been shortly after one Lex Luthor had paid the Admiral of his previous station a visit. All night he had run over all the details about the spaceship he had found, a certain company's in the geological anomalies in Smallville that were present from the meteor shower years ago and what he knew about Lois.

He had been reluctant to research her but he needed to know if she was in danger, especially since whoever he was reporting to would be likely to find out any day know that he knew the location. When he found the records of Lois being at the scene of most of the crimes that took place in Smallville, most of them including people who had become infected by the meteor rocks and were given strange abilities, he realized that she must have some types of abilities too. And somehow it all clicked.

Clark Lane wasn't a dumb person but even he was surprised by his ability to piece together the story of who was using him as a marionette and what that person's endgame was with so few clues. But the moment he figured it out, he knew he had to warn Lois. When he ran into her and Chloe in the hallway of the high school, he became increasingly concerned and almost downright alarmed when he registered the looks of abject horror on the face of his favorite cousin and the girl he had fallen in love with. Whatever had caused them to be scared of him couldn't be good.

Standing on the stone steps of the school, Clark tried to make a decision about what to do. He knew Lois was in danger but he also suspected she could handle herself. Isn't that what Mr. Kent had said? As he sat lost in thought, his cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He wasn't surprised when he answered the call and heard the voice of his own private puppeteer.

"Sergeant Lane," the voice greeted. "I was wondering how long it would take you, if ever, to put all of the pieces together. I have to commend you; it was much quicker than I anticipated. Although, I'm sure you also were impressed with your amateur detective skills."

"What do you want Luthor?" Clark asked through gritted teeth.

"Well, know that you ask Lane. Firstly, I'd like you to leave Smallville High. I think it's quite uncouth for military men to be loitering outside the entrance to a high school when they weren't ordered there. Might be bad for business. Secondly, I want you to steal me my spaceship."

There was a brief pause before Luthor continued, "Yes, I know where it is. And I know you do too. The Kents aren't at home right now and well, the young Kent will be distracted here long enough for you to get the craft and bring it to me."

"You're not going to hurt her are you? Because if you do, I swear that you –"

"Calm down Lane. I promise, I won't hurt her. I'm just going to keep her busy enough that you'll have ample time. Now get to it. I'll call you with directions to the location I want it to be brought to once you've obtained it. Don't worry. I'll know when."

The line went dead and Clark wanted to throw the phone at the ground in anger. But he knew that would do no good. No matter how much he objected to whatever Lex Luthor was up to with his Lois – did he just think 'his Lois'? – he was going to do whatever he could to protect her and if that meant stealing the spaceship from her storm cellar then so be it.

***

"Chloe, are you sure this is a good plan?"

"Lois, my cousin is under orders from Lex Luthor. I think it's safe to say that this is the only plan."

"But Chloe, don't you think you're jumping to conclusions. Clark has seemed perfectly nice in the short time that I've known him. I can't believe that he'd have been in on the whole operation from the get-go. It just doesn't seem like something Lex would do?

"So, now you're familiar with Luthor's m.o.?"

"Not exactly. But I feel whatever he is after is something he'd keep close to his vest. He seems to be the type who doesn't even tell his top researchers what they are even looking for."

"Again I ask, how do you know this?"

"Maybe I don't. But I feel like, ever since you told me about our crazy science teacher that I've realized that I've been getting these vibes that have 'evil creepy dude' written all over them since school started.

"Welcome, to the club," Chloe muttered under her breath.

"Okay, so one more time. Are you sure that this is the best plan? How will I explain –"

"Don't worry about that right now. I'll take care of that," Chloe cut her off. "Right now I need you off the grid. Go up to your ice palace and stay there until I can find out more."

"Fine. But, Chloe don't write Clark off completely as a villain. I mean, you never know he might have just gotten sucked in too far."

"Okay, Lois. I'll look into. Now go."

In the blink of an eye, Lois was gone and Chloe was left standing in the hallway concerned for her friend and also contemplating a plausible excuse for her friend's absence. Well, Chloe was nothing if not creative, she'd think of something. She had to because Lois' life was in danger and nobody messed with Lois – not when Chloe Sullivan was around.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Just two more chapters to go after this and an epilogue tag-on. Thank you everyone who's been reading and those of you who've left reviews. Gear up for this next bit of excitement in the continuing saga of Clark Lane and Lois Kent. Enjoy!

_**Chapter 10**_

No More Mr. Nice Evil Man

"Clark? What are you doing here?"

Lois had sped back to the farm on her way to the fortress in order to grab the octagonal key to her ship. She knew it wouldn't be long before Luthor or someone working for him tried to take her ship. And she wasn't wrong. Sitting in a large blue pick-up truck was one Sergeant Clark Lane; a man she knew was linked to Luthor – though she still hoped it wasn't true. It was better though, since she was dealing with a man hell-bent on getting his hands on alien samples, that she be on the defensive – it was the safest bet.

"Lois! What are you – I mean, shouldn't you be in school?" Clark asked as he climbed out of the truck.

"You're right I should be. Shouldn't you be on a military base somewhere?"

Clark ignored her query and launched into what he hoped would be a coherent explanation, "Look Lois I'm glad you're here. I need to talk to you."

"Don't bother Clark, I know all about Luthor."

"You do?"

"I also know that you're involved with him. Now since, you've been nothing but nice to me since we've known each other, I'm going to give you twenty seconds to explain yourself," she told him in a menacing tone.

"Twenty?"

"Eighteen. Start talking Lane. Trust me you _don't_ want to get on my bad side."

""Ok. Uh, well I was placed in Smallville to recover a spacecraft that supposedly landed here in the meteor shower. I stumbled upon it by accident in your storm cellar. And I just found out Luthor was calling the shots."

"What were you doing in the storm cellar anyway?" her eyes locked in a steely glare with his.

"Luthor gave me this sensor…and I guess it let him know I found it and now he wants me to bring it to him."

"So, I suppose you're going to turn me over too. Is that why you were at the school earlier? To coerce me into becoming Luthor's prisoner? Or make me go by force?" she asked her brown eyes taking on a slight red tinge.

"No, no I came to explain myself Lois. But when you and Chloe looked at me like I was some sort of, I don't know, three-headed monster, I kind of lost my nerve. I promise, I'm not the villain of this story. I'm naïve yes, but I was just following orders."

"And now?"

"Now…well now I just want to protect my…friend…who's given me more in a week than anyone else has in a lifetime."

"Really? Lois asked skepticism apparent in her tone.

"Yes. I know you said we could only be friends. I know you probably pushed me away because I seem like some robotic soldier with no emotions. I am still sorry about Whitney, although he did deserve what was coming to him," Clark added under his breath before continuing, "But if there was a way… a way that I could make it up to you…"

"No."

"No?" Clark repeated, crestfallen.

"No, Clark I meant 'No, that's not why I pushed you away.' I pushed you away because…I couldn't see you become one more on the growing list of people who've gotten hurt for being too close to me. I can't risk your life, especially with the way I feel."

"Do I get a say in the matter?"

"I've thought about this a lot. It was a hard decision I made outside of the hospital and I'd love to stick by it."

"But now?"

"While I don't want to deliberately place you in the line of fire with a big red target painted on your back, I have to admit that I care about you in a way I've never cared about anyone else. Sure, I was infatuated with Whitney for awhile but that pales in comparison to what I feel for you. I feel this connection, this force that's stronger than me pulling me toward you. I thought it would be best if I tried to keep you as far from me as possible. But the truth of the matter is: I'm scared. I'm scared for you and I'm scared for my heart – because if anything ever happened to –"

Clark cut her off by capturing her lips in a kiss. Gently coaxing her to relax and to let the kiss happen. Lois submitted, her legs turning almost to jelly as she let her lips explore his. All the feelings that she had been talking about remained at the surface and poured themselves into the kiss. Clark could feel the magnitude of her ardent kiss begin to affect him and he deepened the kiss. It was moments later before the emerged both gasping for air, a dazed look in the pair of brown eyes and a smitten look in the blue ones that resided on the face of one happy soldier. But the momentary bliss subsided when the air began to reek of danger and was laced with concern.

"Lois, nothing will happen to me. And nothing, will happen to you, I promise. But we've got you safe from Luthor. I don't know what exactly his end-game is but I'm not willing to wait around to find out if it has you in store."

"I'm already ahead of you on that Clark. I just came back to the farm to get something important and then I'm going under the radar – to a place no one can find me."

"Is there anything I can do to help? Let me do something."

Lois pondered his request for a moment. There was one idea brewing in her head but she didn't like it – it was almost guaranteed to be dangerous. But what other options did they have. Luthor would probably do worse to Clark if he didn't get what he wanted. It was the only option, she sighed inwardly before asking,

"You said you came for the ship, right?"

Clark nodded.

"Then take it to him."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. There's nothing in there that he could possibly use."

"So, it is yours?"

"Yeah, it is. You didn't thinks it was just a little keepsake that we kept hidden down there, did you?"

"Well…" Clark began.

"I tell you the whole story later, okay? How about I go get it for you?"

Lois sped away only to return seconds later balancing the ship on one hand.

"Wow."

"If you like that, you should see what else I can do," she said with a smile as she placed the ship in the bed of the truck. She turned towards him, the light dancing in her eyes as she approached. Leaning up on her tip-toes, she gave him a short sweet kiss, said "stay safe," flashed one more smile and then sped away.

Clark looked at the empty space that Lois had just vacated hoping he could do just what she asked and stay safe. Just then, he heard the familiar ring of his cell phone. Knowing who was on the other line, Clark reluctantly answered.

"Hello?"

"Well, done Sergeant Lane. Now bring my ship to the empty Luthorcorp factory in town. Warehouse number 3."

The call ended there. Clark couldn't help but feel this wasn't one of the best strategies he had been a part of but he was determined to keep Lois out of Luthor's hands. And to do that he needed to have an ace up his sleeve.

***

Thirty minutes later, Clark arrived outside of the gates to the old Luthorcorp factory. According to public records it had closed down years ago, causing thousands of Smallville's citizens to lose their jobs. It was strange, Clark thought, that no one thought anything of the fact that someone named Luthor was teaching at the high school and that a multi-billion dollar corporation that once employed citizens had a similar name. But maybe Luthor was a common name. Clark turned right into the compound, looking for the warehouse labeled 3. When his truck approached it, the large metal door in front of him began to open; Luthor and team of scientists were waiting for him.

Clark put the truck in park and climbed out.

"Alright Luthor, here's your spaceship," Clark stated, jabbing his finger at the covered ship behind him. "Now leave Lois alone. Like you promised."

Lex looked away from the military man in front of him in an attempt to keep up pretenses. Some people could be so naïve, especially if they let their emotions get the best of them. It was a shame; the merciless, ruthless soldier he recruited had fallen in love with a strange visitor from another planet. While at first this seemed like a deterrent in his plan, the cogs whirring in his expansive brain began to form a new plan that would result in the same endgame, only sooner. Luthor signaled for his team to analyze to authenticity of the craft. When they gave him the thumbs up, his eyes returned to the Sergeant standing in front of him, his face blank of emotions.

"I'm afraid Sergeant Lane that plans have changed. Leaving Ms. Kent alone is no longer an option.

"You are not going to hurt her," Clark growled.

"You're right, I'm not. But I am going to lure her here. With your cooperation of course."

"No, I'm through helping you, I'm –"

Before Clark could finish his sentence or move a muscle, consciousness and the images in front of him began to slip away until all he could see was darkness.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I won't bore you with why it took so long to update but I will say this: only one more chapter go after this (and an epilogue). So enjoy this next chapter. Review if you want!

_**Chapter 11**_

A Captivated Audience

Clark awoke, what felt like seconds later in a dark room with his hands bound behind him. His arm hurt where he imagined Luthor's goons had drugged him.

"Good morning Sgt. Lane. Nice of you to join us."

Clark merely groaned as the room began to become into clearer focus. Luthor was standing near the pick-up truck Clark had driven there, running his hand over the exterior of the spaceship.

"Don't you think it's funny that your girlfriend could lift this thing with her pinky and not break a sweat?"

"Lois, isn't my girlfriend."

"Oh, she's not? Really?"

"Really."

"Well, Sergeant Lane, I have a feeling that you mean more to her, than she apparently means to you. You see I have a theory. I believe that she'll come looking for you. It may not be today and it may not be tomorrow but it'll happen and when it does I'll be ready for her," he supplied, a mischievous grin playing across his features.

"Well, you'll just have to kill me now because she's not coming. She's too far away."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"I believe you two are more connected than you realize. Besides I'm not going to kill you. I'd never kill you."

"Oh, really?"

"It's the truth. I mean I may torture you but if you die it's not because I meant for it to happen. It's more of a testament to your lack of a strong will."

"So what now?"

"For now, we wait. If she's not here in an hour then…well, then the gloves come off."

"I didn't realize you had any on," Clark mumbled under his breath.

"It's amazing really Sergeant Lane, don't you agree?"

"What's amazing?"

"Your girl- oh, wait, I _forgot_. She's not," Luthor drawled with derision. "Anyway. It's amazing that she's from another planet. She looks so human, in all the right places I believe and yet she's actually a creature. A powerful creature. A creature I've been searching for, for some time now."

"She's more human than you are," Clark interjected. Luthor ignored him and continued on

"When I first heard of the strange effects of the meteor rocks in Smallville, I became intrigued. I began to investigate their components. What I found astonished me – but it wasn't proof that there was other life out there. No, I had to wait for a few years to come across that. I had moved on from the project, not having found what I wanted – I wanted to find out how the meteors were able to give those powers to regular people. But none of our experiments were successful. So, I moved on. I kept some teams out in the field to search for some peripheral evidence and it was lucky that I did. Do you have any idea why that is Sergeant Lane?"

"Haven't the faintest," he answered truthfully.

"They found a small disk, shaped like an octagon with strange symbols. I put my teams on it but they were unable to translate the language. When they ran tests on the metal, they found that it was made of the same alien material as the meteor rocks. It was then I knew – I knew something else had come with the meteors. Can you guess what the purpose of the disk is?"

"No. Is this part of the torture? Treating me like I'm a part of some Nick Jr. show?"

"The purpose of the disk…it took me a year to clue it out, mind you, but the purpose of the disk is to open the spaceship that housed the alien that's been living among us since the meteor shower."

"And you figured that all out by yourself?"

"Yes. It was my obsession. My father believed me too possessed with the project and made me take a leave of absence from his company. But I didn't care. I just wanted to put all the pieces together. Once I realized that there was a spaceship somewhere in Smallville, I decided to come here and investigate for myself. I've been in town for three months and it took me two of those months to narrow down the whereabouts of the alien to the high school. I must admit, I was surprised it was a girl, much less Lois Kent – her file is so clean, aside from the appearances at crime scenes and she's so well-mannered. You're probably asking how I figured out she was so strong, correct?"

"It crossed my mind, but I'm more interested in where your obsession has taken you. What do you want Lois for?"

"Oh, haven't I mentioned? She's going to help me take over the world. And all I need to make her bend to my will is right inside this box." Luthor brandished a small, wear-worn box that would seem inconspicuously insignificant if not for the malice that was gleaming in his eyes as he held it aloft for Clark to see.

Throughout Luthor's monologue, Clark had tried to free himself from his bonds but to no avail. Once he realized that Luthor was toying with him however, he changed tactics. By getting Luthor to reveal his plans, Clark was once step closer to saving Lois' life and his own from the clutches of Lex Luthor, all he had to do was hope his ace was ready to beat the king.

TWO HOURS EARLIER, Office of _The Torch_:

Chloe had holed up in the office of _The Torch_ as soon as Lois left. She was working frantically to try and dislodge any information that could help her believe in her cousin's innocence as well as find away to stop Lex Luthor. She was typing fastidiously at the computer when she felt a strong breeze behind her back. Sighing, she rose from her chair and closed the window that she had left open earlier in the day. As she turned back around, she was surprised to see her cousin Clark standing in front of her, visibly out of breath.

"Chloe," Clark panted.

"Clark," Chloe replied, an icy edge to her voice.

"Chloe, you have to believe me. None of this was my fault, I got suckered in and now I'm in too deep. I just saw Lois and –"

"You saw Lois? What did you do to her? Where is she?" Chloe asked frantically.

"I don't know where she is Chloe. She disappeared."

"She's been kidnapped?"

"No, she left on her own. She knew Luthor was after her."

"Wait, so you not only saw Lois, you spoke to her too?"

"Yes. She told me to take her ship to throw Luthor off her scent."

"You know about her ship?"

"Yeah, I have it in my truck right now."

"I think I need to sit down," Chloe whispered. As soon as she was seated and had taken a few deep breaths, she focused back on the matter at hand. "What are you going to do with the ship?"

"Luthor wants me to bring it to him. To the old fertilizer factory."

"Why are you here?"

"I need your help. If anything goes wrong, I need you to make sure that Lois stays away. I'm a soldier and I know what I'm doing. Promise me you'll keep her away."

"Of course," she agreed. "But Clark…you-you're not going to…are you?"

"I have to Chloe, I made a promise that I'd keep Lois safe. I-I love her. I'd rather give up my life to protect her than lose her. Now, you promise me."

Clark turned toward the door, steeling himself for what the fire we was willingly walking into all for the girl he never thought he'd meet, when he heard his cousin's voice call out to him.

"Clark, wait…I have an idea. I think I know of a way to keep you both safe."

"I'm listening."

THE FORTRESS:

Lois had just completed the first part of her training. Learning Kryptonese was difficult even for her and focusing when she knew her friends were in danger was even harder. She had two minutes to catch her breath before Jor-El would ask her to continue. While she waited for 'class' to resume, she wandered over to the console that housed the crystals of knowledge. She wondered if any of them would allow her to communicate with the outside world or at least see what was happening at home. As she thought of it, a crystal floated up and she grasped it firmly. Once her fingers encircled it, an image of Chloe and Clark in the office of The Torch, she couldn't hear what they were saying but moments later, Clark turned o his heel and ran out. She wondered if this was happening in real time. The images before her dissolved and she saw Clark bound to a chair with Lex Luthor pacing in front of him. That was enough for Lois. She knew she was supposed to stay safe and out of the way but she couldn't sit idly by and see the man she loved (wait, she loved him?) be kidnapped by such a ruthless man. Lois replaced the crystal and ran out of the Fortress at lightning speed hoping that what she had seen wasn't too far in the past and that she wouldn't be too late.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: It's finals week and I'm currently working fastidiously on a journalism paper but I thought I'd take a short break to finish this story. This is the last chapter and then there's a short epilogue to follow. Thanks to everyone who has read the story and reviewed. This the first time I've written such a long fic (and finished it!) and it was a journey. Hope you enjoy the conclusion of Clark Lane and Lois Kent!

_**Chapter 12**_

A Plan and Plans Revealed

"Chloe, where is he?"

"Lois! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in the Arctic?" Chloe asked, alarmed at the sudden appearance of her best friend.

"Chloe, where is he?" Lois repeated ignoring her friend's concerned questions. She began pacing around the room, looking in every corner as if she would discover Clark's massive frame lurking there. Chloe held out a hand to stop Lois as the frantic girl passed once again in front of her best friend

"Lois, slow down. Who are you talking about?"

"Clark."

"Clark?"

"Yes, he was here right? I'm not sure how long ago, but he was here. How long ago was he here?"

"First of all, how do you know that? And second he left, maybe 15 minutes ago," she supplied as she glanced down at her watch.

"How I know isn't important right now Chloe but what I know is. Do you know where he went?" her voice rising a few octaves, panic evident in her tone.

"Lois. Calm down. Breathe. Take a deep breath and just breathe." Lois reluctantly expelled the airs from her lungs in a heavy sigh. She closed her eyes for a moment and focused the thoughts that were going crazy in her head before training her eyes on Chloe.

"Alright Chloe, I'm calm. Now tell me what's happening. Why was he here and where did he go?"

Chloe filled Lois in on the details of her and Clark's conversation and the plan that she had concocted to effectively bring down Luthor before he got his hands on Lois. The teenaged alien sat there as Chloe told her everything, absorbing Chloe's words and ideas. Lois knew that Clark had voluntarily put himself into the trenches for her but now that she knew he'd be captured (or was already captured) by Lex Luthor, she couldn't sit by and let him be the martyr. He was too important to her. She may have been young but she knew from the moment that she met him – he was it. So she paid attention to her friend, knowing that she would rescue Clark and take down the bad guy at the same time.

ABANDONED LUTHORCORP FERTILIZER PLANT

"Well Clark, do you mind if I call you Clark?" Luthor asked. He paused as Clark nodded his head with indifference. "I know you're wondering why now? Well, I think I've kept up the pleasantries for long enough. Besides time is almost up and I'm starting to lose patience with your alien girlfriend. Once the clock stops ticking, I'm not going to be so accommodating."

"You call being kidnapped and chained to a chair accommodating?" Clark asked in disbelief.

"Well, it sure beats a pine box buried six feet under."

"If you weren't such a horrible person that I know is someday going to rot in prison, I'd suggest that you take up comedy. But since I know you're going to rot in hell, I'll keep that joke in mind for another time." Clark wryly replied.

"Now, now Clark, no need to get snarky. Try and think of your stay here as a vacation from your complicated little soldier life."

"Thanks Luthor, my very first crap factory vacation. Could you take pictures? I want to commemorate this trip. I'd take them myself but it seems my hands are tied." Clark sarcastically commented.

Lex didn't reply right away. He was looking at his watch. Clark could practically see the scientist's mind calculating and extrapolating. A small smile was spreading across Luthor's face accentuating the evil glint in his eye; it caused Clark to squirm a little in his seat. When Luthor turned back to Clark, the smile was gone and was replaced with a look of grim satisfaction.

"Clark. As much as I enjoy having a sarcastic tête-à-tête with someone of your caliber, I'm afraid time's run out and your friend isn't here to save you. So I want you, with as little compunction possible, to tell me where she ran off to."

"I don't know where she is," Clark replied truthfully.

"You don't…" Lex stated, with a quiet wrath wrapping around those simple words. He regained his composure before playing one of the hand's he'd left hidden in his one on one time with Clark. "Well I assumed after your good-bye kiss that she'd at least have the decency to let you know where she was going. Ah, but then again she did take off in quite the hurry, didn't she?"

"How do you know about that?"

"You think I haven't been keeping an eye on the Kents? And I thought we were getting to know each other."

"I know you're a megalomaniac."

"You know, I like the way that sounds. It's catchy. Maybe I should…" Lex drifted off dreamily to contemplate the adjective that Clark had bestowed upon him. Clark taking a moment in Lex's guard being slightly lowered, he decided it was time to see just how crazy the man before him was, hoping that he would discover a crack in his armor that would allow him to deliver the trick Chloe had helped hide up his sleeve.

"I also know you're a criminal. I hope you like being behind bars as much as you like the word 'megalomaniac'."

"Is that a threat? You don't seem to be in a great position to be making those. It's not like you could follow through with them. What charges could possibly be brought against me?"

"Let's start with kidnapping and trespassing on private property."

"It's nice to that you care enough about my work to think I've done those things but I assure my hands are clean in all of this."

"How about aiding and abetting a crime then?"

"You really are naïve. It's hard to believe you grew up all over the world and not on some farm here in the middle of nowhere Kansas."

At that moment, a gust of wind blew through the factory, kicking up the acrid smell of manure that every fertilizer plant is ripe with.

"He's not as naïve as he seems," a female voice interjected.

"Ah, Ms. Kent. How kind of you to join us…you're just the alien I've been waiting for."

"Well, Dr. Luthor, I'm happy to oblige. I'm willing to stay here, with no complaint and no restraints if you'll release Sergeant Lane," the voice replied. Neither Luthor nor Clark could see her.

"You will? And how do I know I can trust you, alien?" Luthor asked, skeptically.

"I'm an honest person. The only thing I've ever lied about are my origins."

"Nice try, alien. But I think I have a better way to ensure, you keep your word," Luthor swiftly moved in the direction he believed he heard her voice come from.

As Lex Luthor crept closer to the boxes where the voice of Lois Kent emanated from, Clark felt the bindings holding his hands together suddenly snap apart. The startled Sergeant looked down at Lois Kent and smiled.

"About time," he whispered. She just smiled back at him and pressed her finger to her lips. She then motioned toward, the microphone she held in her hand (the microphone that was connected to the speaker Luthor was currently creeping towards) and then at Luthor himself. Clark nodded. He understood his mission. Take out the distracted Luthor, while Lois dealt with the rest of the guards. Clark stood up and quickly stretched, regaining the flexibility in his taut muscles before he moved like a bulldozer toward Luthor, tackling him fiercely to the ground.

Luthor's guards not expecting their prisoner to be unbound, quickly grasped for their weapons but found that the guns that had been by their sides moments before were now absent. They looked up to see a teenage girl holding their weapons and their mouths fell open in awe and fear when they saw her crush them with her bare hands. Aware that they stood no chance against the girl, they put their hands up in surrender. Lois quickly bound them before moving toward the truck that Clark had parked in the middle of the warehouse. She opened the door, glancing over at the wrestling Luthor and Clark to make sure her guy was alright, before removing the tape that had recorded the conversations that had transpired between the two men and pocketing it. She took another look at Clark, he was trying to grab the Kryptonite that Luthor had pulled out – and then grabbed her ship, speeding it back to the safety of the storm cellar at the farm.

Moments later, Lois returned to the warehouse surprised to see that Clark had subdued Luthor and was holding the Kryptonite aloft out of Lex's reach. Clark looked up at Lois and grinned as he threw the piece of rock to the other side of the large warehouse. He then tied Lex to the guards and approached Lois, reveling in a job well done.

"Do you have the tape?" Clark asked.

"Yep. Did you get him to spill all his dirty secrets?"

"Yep. Are you ready to wipe their memories?"

"You know about that part of the plan?"

Clark simply nodded in response. Lois looked slightly uneasy and guilty at the prospect of using her Kryptonian technology to steal the memories from the evil scientist. But she knew it was for the best. None of them could know who she was. She'd leave all the memories of his plans intact but omit that she was the alien he had been raving about. She knew the tape they had created would oust her name but she wasn't going to give it to just any cop. During her time in Smallville as a shadowed super-hero she had made a few friends – one being a law enforcement agent who worked for a covert branch of the government that dealt in all things alien and one of the few that she could trust. Lois knew that the tape would be in good hands and that it would be enough to keep Luthor in prison for years to come.

As they waited for the authorities to show up and arrest their newly mind-wiped detainees, Clark took the opportunity to talk to Lois about what had happened before she had left hours ago.

"You know Lois," Clark began. "I'm glad you showed up when you did. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't."

"I'm lucky I found out was happening while I was in my fortress. I doubt Chloe would have been able to contact me."

"You fortress? You mean you hid out in your loft?"

"No. I mean my actual fortress. It's actually a recreation of my home planet, Krypton."

"Oh, I see."

"Do you? I mean, does it bother you that I'm from…you know, outer space?"

"No. Maybe if you had grown up on some distant planet and then come here I'd probably feel differently. But I then again, I don't know. All I know is that I've fallen for you…and I don't want to get back up. The moment I saw you, well ran into you, in the hall…I knew you were special. I could tell."

"Having someone who's okay with who I really am, is all I could ever ask for. But you're so much more than just that Clark. I mean you were willing to risk your life for me, if Chloe couldn't reach me. I couldn't ask for a better person to –" Lois paused midsentence and watched as the sun began to rise over the hills. She quirked her head to the side, puzzled, before asking Clark, "How long was I gone?"

"Well it's about 5:30 right now?"

"5:30!" Lois yelped.

"What's wrong?"

"My parents are going to kill me," she answered. "With all the excitement, I forgot to leave them a note before I left. They're already mad about me not coming home the other night. Oh, I am so dead."

"Can't you stay a little longer?"

"My dad is probably already up doing his chores. I've got to go," she told him reluctantly. She saw the frown form on his face and felt an overwhelming sense of protectiveness surge through her. "Don't worry Clark. We can finish this later. Come by later after you've gotten some rest. You've had a long night." Lois reached up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. She then dashed out of the warehouse leaving Clark to deal with the authorities.

Lois was waiting in her loft, staring off into the afternoon sun. The past week had been filled with so much. Her encounter with a power-hungry crazy scientist coming second to the miracle that came in the form of Clark Lane. As her thoughts drifted toward the man that so easily captured her heart, she heard footsteps on the stairs. She turned to see the man in question smiling a shy smile in her direction. She returned his smile with a big grin, flashing her perfect set of teeth, her eyes filled with mirth and love. He slowly approached her and silently brought his lips to hers. The shared a short, sweet kiss before he pulled away and let his forehead rest upon hers. The duo stood in silence for a long moment, enjoying being in the other's company too much for words. When it felt right to speak, words tumbled out of Lois' mouth.

"You know Lane, we make a pretty good team."

Clark pulled his forehead from hers and looked down into her hazel eyes. He smiled as he replied:

"I have to agree Kent."

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"I'm quitting the military. I submitted my letter of resignation today. I've already served my tour of duty from when I first enrolled in the service. Now, I'm going to take advantage of the G.I. Bill. I think I'll probably study journalism."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. When I was gathering information on…well, you, and Luthor, I realized I was pretty good at it. And my superiors always commented on my way with words when I submitted paperwork and reports on my men. Plus – what's that look for?" Clark trailed off as he noticed the odd expression on Lois' face. He couldn't tell if she was upset or just contemplative. It took a moment for her to realize that he had stopped talking.

"Oh, I'm sorry Clark. I was just thinking how amazing you are. I mean, you spent your life surrounded by war and political corruption – well, you had to learn the last one the hard way – and now you want to expose the truth. I think journalism would suit you perfectly, especially at Met U."

"Why Met U?"

"Because, I'll be studying journalism at Met U."

"You got in?"

"Yes! I found out this morning when I got back."

"Well, that will make things easier."

"What things?"

"I've been thinking what would happen between us, now that our little adventure is over and now we're going to be together."

"Together at school you mean."

"Yes, at school, but also…if you've reconsidered…if you've forgiven me…if you'd be my girlfriend, Lois Kent."

"You know Clark, I have pretty good hearing, but I'm sure I misheard you. Did you ask me to be your girlfriend?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah, but…if you don't –"

Clark was cut off by Lois' lips as she pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss.

"Of course, I'll be your girlfriend Clark. Who knows, maybe we'll be stuck together for life. I mean it isn't every day you could fall in love with an alien, right?"

"Not just any alien Lois. You." He corrected.

"Alright, enough mushy stuff. Let's go take the world by storm."

"Watch out world, the Lane-Kent team is on their way."

"Lane-Kent? Really? I was thinking more along the lines of Kent-Lane for a byline."

Clark took Lois's hand in his as they walked back toward the barn. "Whatever you say Lois, whatever you say."

THE END *almost


	14. Chapter 14

_**Epilogue**_

What A Way to Dream?

"Lois Lane!"

"What chief?"

"Do you think you could stop putting your life in danger? The lads up in insurance think you're a liability."

Lois ignored Perry's barb at her general lack of concern regarding safety, but he didn't know she had someone looking after her every time she crossed over danger's threshold. But that was one secret she'd take to her grave.

It was funny how much her life had changed in the past few years. She could pinpoint all the changes to the day she met Clark. Some days, Lois would find herself wondering what life would have been like if their situations had been reversed. Would Clark still be the same caring guy she knew today? Would he still embody all the ideals that made her love him so much? Would he be a hero that people looked up to? These were just some of the thoughts that crossed Lois' mind as she thought about her husband. And as if he knew her thoughts were on him, she turned away from her story on the government's latest attempts at peace with a distance nation and smiled at the man who made her life better with every breath he took.

Clark walked by the desks that crowded the bullpen as he made his way over to his wife. He was in the middle of straightening his tie as his long loping gait approached their desks at the Daily Planet. When he saw her smiling, he paused, his determination to reach her momentarily suspended. She was stunning. Every time he caught a glimpse of her, she took his breath away and today was no different. He couldn't help admire the sight from afar.

"Clark, where have you been?" His editor asked.

"Uh, hey Perry…I was, um, at the hospital. One of the doctors, had something important to tell me…for a story." Clark lied. Well he sort of lied.

"Fine, but weren't you working on the peace talk story with Lois?"

"Oh yeah, we are. But this is much bigger news."

"Really?" Perry asked through narrowed eyebrows.

"The best," Clark replied, with a smile. Then in a barely audible whisper, that the untrained human ear would not be able to pick up on Clark added, "Lois, is pregnant."

Lois looked up from her desk and stared at her husband, a smile of comprehension slowly spreading across her face. Clark sidestepped their editor and made it the last few steps to his wife. When he reached her, she threw her arms around him and shouted with a sound of mirth most of their fellow journalists were unused to hearing from "Mad Dog Lane."

"Sounds like Ultra Woman, will be taking a break for a few months," Lois whispered in Clark's ear.

"Well, I'm sure you can find someone to cover for you," Clark replied. Clark put his beaming wife back on the ground and finished straightening his tie.

"What's up with your clothes? It looks like you were roughed up in an alley."

"No, I just…I was so happy that…I can barely remember. Can you believe it? We're going to be parents."

"Well, Mister 'Former Sergeant' Lane, you'll be the best father that any kid could ask for."

"And you'll be the best mother, don't deny it…you will. Because what kid wouldn't want a superhero for a parent?"


End file.
